"Stronghold Self-Storage"

Do you remember the movie " Bruce Almighty"? I'm sure if your a movie buff like myself you have probably seem it numerous times. In the movie there is a scene where Jim Carey is at his wits end, and he cries out to God " Give me a Sign"! Not realizing that all along God had put multiple signs in front of him to show him the way. Jim ( aka Bruce) was a goal oriented anchor man looking to be in the limelight of his career. He had a beautiful girlfriend ( Jennifer Aniston) who loved him despite how much he complained about life, and not getting the big break he deserved.
Who hasn't felt at some point in their life that they were somehow cheated out of that job promotion, or that bigger home, or that perfect spouse. I would even venture to say that some
of us get angry, bitter even fearful that maybe we will never reach our self fulfilled idea of what we think we deserve.
Well I had this exact same experience the other day as I was doing nothing more than running to McDonalds for my mother to pick up breakfast.
I casually pulling out of the drive-thru sifting through the bag to make sure I had everything I ordered and made the wrong turn which put me at a dead end street.
Aggravated I began making a U turn and had to do it slowly as not to run up on the curb.
I looked to my right and a sign on a storage building caught my eye.
Stronghold Self-Storage.. odd name, I thought as I continued to drive away but the more I thought about the name the more I realized this was one of those Ah Ha! moments,
you know, those moments when you have to smile and verbally express "R U Serious"?
I felt like Jim Carey when he realized that he really MESSED UP.. in his belief that the perfect job, the perfect life and the perfect woman would make him happy. I think that we all have Strongholds in our life where we store our junk!
We take all those boxes of disappointment,hurt, betrayal, trials and we store them all nice and neat and close the door and put a big lock on it so no one can get in. And when those seasons of
betrayal, doubt, unhappiness, and fear come around we go to our "Stronghold Self-Storage and sift through our junk to find answers as to what we did or most importantly what we think someone else did to put us in such a place in our lives.
I think once we turn over the KEYS to the locks of our storage units to Jesus we can
allow him to sift through our boxes and remove the junk that we have stored up and
be free from a monthly payment of SELF WORTH! have a blessed Day..
Just Sayin :)

Truth or Consequences

Only the young at heart probably remember the game show

" Truth or Consequences". It was a fun program where you had to answer silly questions before the buzzer sounded and if wrong had to perform some kind of off the wall stunt. but also sometimes contestants got to be reunited with family members they hadn't seen in awhile. Silly as it sounds I relate to the very name of the show and it's concept. THINK ABOUT IT...

We all at some point in our lives have to eventually come face to face with truth...It can be revelatory, or maybe painful..It can sometimes bring relief or burden...even conviction. we may get the answers to lifes questions right or totally get them wrong and we find ourselves jumping through hoops and performing for people to make it fit some how when in fact we are living a total lie. There was a girl I once knew who lived most of her life in a lie.. Trying to answer all the questions right but somehow just couldn't beat that dang BUZZER!!

She had excepted the consequences for her life and decisions she made. But as jesus said, " The truth will set you free". If you find yourself performing maybe you should ask yourself the question...Is this truth? Who knows you just might beat that BUZZER.

P.S. And who knows what relationships can be mended (what family member may show up unexpectantly) during this game called LIFE.