"Broken Glass"

"Broken Glass"


Genesis 1: 26, 27, 31

“And God said, let us make man[human beings] in our own image, after our likeness[to be like us]: And they will reign over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the wild animals, and even the small animals that scurry along the ground. So God created human beings in His own image, in the image of God he created them, both male and female.

“Then God looked over all He had made and saw that it was very good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.”


In this season I’m writing particularly to my young sisters, but I think I’m really writing to everybody with this one (self, brothers, sisters, parents, ALL Y’ALL), because I really feel there is a due season word for our lives. So I invite you to soak this one up really good… IT GOT ME!!!


As I continue to make some serious strides in my life to walk in Holiness (Leviticus 20:7), Obedience and Reverence to God the Father (Romans 12:1, 2), I am reall y concerned about “IMAGES”… Self-Image, Medias creation of Images, and there seems to be a serious move to ENGRAVE these images in our brains, to the point that we end up aspiring to become these images, even worshipping these images, (which the Lord God has already commanded us not to do according to Exodus 20:1-6) and my main concern is that these are “BROKEN IMAGES” . Why do you say broken??? Because they’re created by HUMANS… and HUMANS are Broken (Job 14:1, Job 15: 14, 16, Job 25:4)… Aside… (There is another installment to this little series that will come later based on the broken human race so stay tuned!!!) Let’s go ahead and break this thing wide open…


I’m embracing a lot of people right now who are struggling with what they see in the mirror… (I’m ugly, I’m overweight, I’m never gonna attain this status, I’m never gonna be happy, I wish I had this person’s life, Why can’t everything be perfect like this person… etc.) The more I examine my life, and the more I examine the way we deal with each other in the human family, I’m finding these BROKEN images everywhere… EVERYWHERE!!! We find ourselves buying into perceptions of perfection, and end up just as broken as the images… If not more so and that my friends is the root definition of DECEPTION!!! I call it BROKEN GLASS… It will Distort you, Change you, Break your reflected image, and if you spend enough time with it, these images will Cut you, Scarring permanently, and maybe even kill you physically and spiritually. We have become so wrapped up in images(idolatry) that we are becoming zapped in our energy trying to attain things that are not real to begin with… And there are industries out there that are making Billions of dollars off our idolatry… PLASTIC SURGERY, LYPO SUCTION, RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY, IMPLANTS, FAHION, MAKE UP, and I could go on… But it is an epidemic of idolatry… Let’s go deeper… If I don’t make a certain amount of money, live in a certain neighborhood, drive a certain car… I’m not successful… Even Deeper… If I don’t go to a certain college, and get these specific degrees… Well I’m a failure and just not smart enough… Hello???

Well… I’m gonna make this short and simple…

I’m all about health, wellness, fitness, a good life, prosperity, even wealth… Because I believe God the Father has endowed us all with GIFTS, SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND TALENTS that make it possible to attain these things according to a Godly model. So yes I do believe we ought to have healthy diets, healthy living habits, we all need to work toward something REALISTIC in our lives[life goals, aspirations] but there is a wave of things we aspire to attain that are taking us away from the Central focus and that is living by the Godly Standard. (John 10:10 according to the New Living Translation “The thief comes for this purpose: to kill, to steal, and to destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”) I mean just look at the definitions…

Kill- To cut off, to take the life from, to bring to an end, stop
Steal – To take with out permission, To unlawfully hold possession of, To seize without proper notice
Destroy – To completely tear down, To WIPE OUT

Is there anyone right now feeling robbed of their life right now because of some tactic of the enemy??? I speak RIGHT NOW against the enemy who is trying to steal, kill, and destroy things about you with this feeling of inferiority simply because you didn’t do it THIS way or THAT way… YOUR LIFE is NOT determined by the influence of MASS MEDIA… Your life IS determined by the influence of GOD!!!

Family, the reason we are in this war with idolatry is because we do not see ourselves the way God sees us. When was the last time we really thought about that? How Does GOD See Me? Well I’ll tell you through the scriptures…

Genesis 1: 26, 27 tells us that God sees us as though we are like him, because we are made in HIS image… So that means he sees us as an extension of HIM.

Genesis 1:31 tells us that God sees us as something VERY GOOD… Why? Because he looked at ALL He created and saw that it was all VERY GOOD

Psalms 8:5,6 says that God sees us as a little lower than the Angels, and that we have been crowned with glory and honor, having been created to reign over the works of the hand of God… I LOVE THAT ONE!!! I mean I love them all but particularly that one!!!



My encouragement to you all is to seek the peace of mind that comes from knowing how God sees all of us. The problem I see is that we have allowed man created, broken images to rule in our mentality. We seek to please man at times more than God (II Timothy 3:4), but remember it is still GOD who ultimately saves us. All this Broken Glass we deal with is by influence of the enemy to confuse and that is not of God (I Corinthians 14:33)


Shout out to my friend Zack who helped me write these lyrics to a song entitled “Broken Glass”

“If You’re tired of the lonliness, tired of the shame… You’re Tired of the Broken Glass
If You’re tired of the hurt, tired of the pain… You’re tired of the Broken Glass
If You’re caught in a storm, caught in a pouring rain… Walk away from the Broken Glass
If you’re ready to live again it’s time to change. If You’re tired of the Broken Glass”

My prayer for us all right now is to seek the presence of god as we seek to find our true identity. Do Not depend on Broken, Cutting, Dangerous, Deadly images of the world to define you. I also pray that as you seek God you open your heart to change the things that have kept you distanced from God.

Romans 12: 1,2 (New Living Translation)
“And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and Holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of the world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good, pleasing, and perfect.”


My My MY!!!

I don’t know who you are or where you are… But there is somebody right now dealing with issues on some many levels, I’m telling you right now to run toward God… Get in HIS word and let him speak to you personally. If you don’t know how… In these two words He’ll come right to you… GOD HELP!!!

I don’t know you but God does!!! He’s waiting to do some great things through you fro HIS purpose in the earth… There is a testimony in you right now that people tied to you need to hear.

Weight, Looks, Finances, Family, all these things are holding you captive right now… Because the enemy is trying to make you think you’re not good enough… Well the Devil is a LIAR, and the enemy is already DEFEATED!!! God is looking right now FOR YOU!!!

Even in your situation… you’re looking at mistakes you’ve made as though they define who you are… That is a LIE!!! There is a Loving, Forgiving, Healing God of a second chance, and a third, fourth, fifth, etc… Chance… He’s looking for you right now… Waiting for you right now!!! RUN TO HIM… CALL HIM…!!!

There are those of you right now who are struggling with school environments, middle school, high school, college, grad school… Thinking these degrees will define you better, yet still trapped by the enemy’s influence in how you operate your life… trying to please those around you, you are doing things you know are not right, hiding the skeletons in the closet, trying to live two lives… STOP NOW!!! You’ve already heard the VOICE of GOD speaking to you in your life and HE wants to use you in mighty ways for the KINGDOM’s PURPOSE… Tell the DEVIL to GET BEHIND YOU as I AM is calling you forward to serve HIM!!!

My final prayer is for ALL of us… Help us LORD to see YOU the next time we look in the mirror… And if we don’t see you to fall on our knees and receive you at that very moment… And call on you to come help us in this season to be what you have already made us… LIKE YOU!!! AMEN!!!


I LOVE YOU ALL,

Joseph

“If you only do what you did, You only get what you got.” – Unknown

Please send any questions, comments, and/or Prayer Requests to: mybrothasays@gmail.com

For more information on the Teen Moms/Nashville Youth For Christ Program, please contact Shellie R. Warren at shellie@nashvilleyfc.org or call 615-290-9905