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Poor Man’s Proverb #29: Are You Down With Diversity?

Are you down with diversity? In other words, are you a fan or okay with diversity? Sadly, many people have given in to the notion that their race is the superior race and should reign supreme over all others.

This way of thinking gives birth to a very dangerous weapon used by the devil – racism. Racism is built on the foundation of hatred and contempt for others. When fully developed and embraced, it separates us as a nation and fosters an “Us versus Them” mentality. At its core, murder results.

Racism seeks to destroy God’s command mentioned in Matthew 22:38, “…Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”  It is in direct violation of this command. Is that really what we want?

Note 2 self: God is the author of diversity. He created everything. Everywhere we look we see  His fondness for diversity.  So clearly, God endorses it. For those who believe in God and yet hates his brother because he looks different, I have one question for you. Do you really think there is a separation in heaven for the various races of people? Everything that is in me says NO! We are all God’s people. He loves us all. In heaven, we will all be one big happy family.

So to the question, are you down with diversity? I am, what about you?

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

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Poor Man’s Proverb #28: Do We Realize Where Hate Will Take Us?

Perhaps many of us have uttered the words, “I hate you.”  Was it said out of anger and frustration, or did we really mean it?

Hate is a strong word and a powerful emotion. It will take its owners down a road that they will regret.

What does God have to say about hating others? In 1 John 3:15, it states the following: “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.”

 

Note 2 self: So, God equates the hatred of others with murder. Wow! This is in stark contrast with how our society views the hatred of others. Until reading this scripture, I would have never come up with the equation HATE = MURDER.  Time to let that hate “thang” go!  Unforgiven hatred is an express elevator ride to hell!

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

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Poor Man’s Proverb #27: Is LUST Your Middle Name?

The devil has many weapons at his disposal, but few are more effective than lust.  Lust is an equal opportunity offender. It affects people from all walks of life. It cares nothing about our social or economic status. Lust seeks to lure us into other sins that further deepen the devil’s hold on our lives.  Lust leads to fornication, adultery, pornography, prostitution and the like.

Like the professional marketer that he is, the devil markets lust in a variety of ways.  Go to the grocery store, and you will find magazines at the checkout counter with seductively clothed women on the cover. This theme continues but with greater intensity and openness in television, movies, social media, emails, texts and other forms of communications.

God gives us several scriptures to help us combat lust. Here are a few.

” So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18

“Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.” Proverbs 6:25

“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Romans 13:14

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Romans 6:12

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28

Note 2 self: Yes, I am a Christian man, but I am still a man. Like anyone else, I too am susceptible to lust.  James 4:7 states the following: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  As a result, I have developed the two-second rule. If I find myself staring at a woman for longer than two seconds, I turn away and begin thinking about Jesus on the cross.  Staring longer than two seconds starts to generate unhealthy and sinful thoughts. To be clear, I don’t believe God has a problem with us admiring the beauty of others. It becomes a problem when our thoughts begin to take us places we should not be. Remember, prolonged thoughts usually turn into actions.

So, to the question, is LUST your middle name? I try very hard for it not to be.

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

 

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Poor Man’s Proverb #26: Girl, He Is A Bum. You Can Do Better!

Throughout the years, I have been amazed at some of the poor choices in men my female friends have made. Many of these women were beautiful, educated, talented, God-fearing and all-around good woman of high moral fiber.  Yet, they seemed to be attracted to men who were not good for them. And sadly, many entered into relationships with these men at their own peril.

So the question becomes, why? None of us have the power to see the future, but some things are obvious. We just choose to look the other way and before we know it, we think we are in love but love should not cause us pain and suffering.

 

Note 2 the ladies: If he is morally bankrupt don’t waste your time with him.  If you see behavior in him that is unbecoming of who you are as a person, then head for the hills.  Do not allow yourself to be lured into a relationship that will cause you future devastation. If he is indeed a man who loves the Lord, then opportunity may await you.  Ask yourself a question before you enter into a relationship with any man.  Is he an Ephesians 5 kind of guy?  Ephesians 5 outlines how a man should love and treat his wife. If you see that in him, then maybe he is worth going out with.    

You are God’s daughters, and He loves you. He loves you too much to send you junk! “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 18:22) Remember, you are some man’s good thing!

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

 

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Poor Man’s Proverb #25: Do You Know Who You Are Talking To?

It is always a good idea to treat people with kindness.  Why is that you ask?  Well, for starters – you never know who you may be talking to.  Hebrews 13:2 gives us the following instructions.  “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

Note 2 self: This scripture became real to me in 1986.  I was in the Air Force at the time and was home on military leave.  On this particular day, I had been approached by three panhandlers at separate times.  I gave them all money.  At this point, I was not interested in giving away any more money.  So when the 4th panhandler approached me outside a restaurant that I was getting ready to enter, I thought to myself – “This bank is closed.” The man who approached was an old man who was clearly destitute. He said, ” Young man can you spare a $1.00?”  I lied and told the man that I didn’t have any money. He looked at me and turned his head slightly to the right and asked again with a sincere voice, “Young man – are you sure don’t have any money that you can spare?”  I looked at him and turned my head slightly to the right and said,  “No, I don’t.”  At that moment, I turned away from him and was about to go into the restaurant. As I turned the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “You know you have money, give that man $2.00.” So I turned back around, and the man was gone.  The restaurant was on a broad commercial street.  I had only turned away from the man for 2 seconds.  There is absolutely no way that he could have ran, walked or drove away in that short a period of time. There was no one in the immediate area. The man simply vanished. 

I was overwhelmed with guilt because I knew I was wrong. I thought, someday I would have to explain to God why I lied to one of His angels not once but twice.  So, to the question – Do you know who you are talking to? I did not. Be careful my friends; you too may be in the company of angels.

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

 

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Poor Man’s Proverb #24: Do Your Plans Have A Fatal Flaw?

Many of us spend hours, days, weeks and even years trying to come up with plans for our lives. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with planning for our future but many of us do so at our own peril.  You see,  our plans have one fatal flaw.  We often make these plans at the exclusion of God.  Why would we not include the one person who knows the future and who wants what is best for us?

Note 2 self: Want a compelling reason to include God in all our plans? Jeremiah 29:11 reveals the pure heart of the matter.  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The bottom line is this; God has plans for us. His plans for our lives are complete with the promise of watching over us.  Therefore, we may want to file 13 (throw away) our plans.

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

 

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Poor Man’s Proverb #23: Do You Want To Be A Superhero?

When I was a little kid, I always wanted to grow up to be a superhero.  I thought that having superpowers and using them for the good of humanity would have been awesome.  Was it a pipe dream or was it really possible?

Interestingly enough, the Bible gives some advance intelligence on this question.  In John 20:19,  Jesus appears to His disciples after His crucifixion. “That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing  there among them and said, “‘Peace be with you!”’  It is important to note that Jesus was in His resurrected body at this point and He walked through walls.

In Luke 24:36-53, Jesus appears to the disciples and then goes to heaven.  He became visible to disciples out of nowhere and then ascends to heaven. In other words, He could fly.

Note 2 self: Followers of Christ will eventually receive resurrected bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-43). I believe we will have similar superpowers as Jesus as we will have resurrected bodies like His.

To the question, do you want to be a Superhero? Why not, you will have superpowers.    

Bless to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

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Poor Man’s Proverbs #22: Are You Giving Other Christians The VIP Treatment?

As I watch the news, I am reminded that our world has gone absolutely nuts.  It’s a dog-eat-dog world; often devoid of love. This is not God’s design for mankind. He tells us in Matthew 22:39, “… Love your neighbor as yourself.” God gave us this command for a reason.  If the world followed his directive, it would change life as we know it.

It has been established that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves but is there any special treatment required for fellow Christians? Galatians 6:10 answers this question.  “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Note 2 self: In other words, we are to roll out the red carpet for our Christian brothers and sisters.  We should go the extra mile for those who share our faith.  To the question, do we treat other Christians as VIPs?  The answer is a resounding YES!

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

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Poor Man’s Proverb #21: You’ll Pay For That!

Often the mind is a negotiating chamber. What do you mean? It is a breeding ground for justifying sin. It gives life to the following thoughts:

Look what she did to me. It is only right that I do it to her.

You hurt me; I’m going to hurt you more.

I’ll show you; you will never hurt me again.

Two can play that game.

Tick for tack – watch your back!

I can’t believe they did this to me; I want revenge!

Payback is a _____!

Note 2 self: It is in the nature of man to want to get even. We tell ourselves that getting revenge is the right thing to do.   However, Proverbs 2:12 warns us of the following, “A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart.” In other words, just because we think something is right – doesn’t make it right. God will judge our hearts and examine what is in them. Deuteronomy 32:35 gives us a directive.  “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near, and their doom rushes upon them.” God is pretty clear here; it is His job to pay back those who have wronged us. Do we really think we can do a better job than God? Just take a moment and reflect upon how God has repaid us for our wrongdoings – exactly! God does not need our help.  When we seek revenge, we often hurt ourselves in the process.  The bottom line is this – stay in our lane and let God do His job.

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy

 

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Poor Man’s Proverb #20: You still have time to make it to the Hall of Fame.

Many of you may be thinking, I am on the north side of forty and well past my prime. While others may be thinking,  I am still pretty young, but I do not have the physical or athletic ability required to make it to anybody’s Hall of Fame.

The Hall to which I speak is the Faith Hall of Fame.  One’s physical or athletic ability has nothing to do with gaining entrance into this illustrious club.

To understand what the Faith Hall of Fame is, we must first define faith.  God defines faith in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The rest of Hebrews 11 goes on to give us several examples of people who demonstrated faith. This chapter is known as the Faith Hall of Fame.

So, you might be thinking – these were great people of the Bible, and I am just an ordinary Joe. News flash – many of them were incredibly flawed. It was their consistent and sustained faith that made them great people of God.

Note 2 self: Until we take our last breath, we all have an opportunity to earn our place in the Faith Hall of Fame. Jesus tells us in Luke 17:6, “… If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” Even with just a little faith, we can accomplish great things.

So, who wants to join me in my effort to earn my way into the Faith Hall of Fame?

We can do this!

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Daniel

The Note 2 Self Guy