In His Likeness w/ AntTBri

Presentation is everything. It can break or make a dish, discussion, diagram, or delivery.  If you want me to get it by all means put some thought into the content, context, and conflict I will have in deciding to accept, affirm, and acclimate to what you present as the Truth.  Don’t just throw it out there, say it’s so and expect me to be changed by it because it’s right. Long gone are the days when people did or didn’t do based upon what somebody said, we live in a time when rebellion is the prevalent trend. It’s human nature to want to test or taste the forbidden… as a matter of fact the moment we’re told it’s not good for us or we shouldn’t it seems we want it more.  We seem to live and love in the thrill of getting away with it.  Not getting caught or alluding punishment for a while is its own aphrodisiac.

We like playing with fire, pushing limits, and seizing every opportunity to prove just how smart, slick and sneaky we can be…because in our minds the rule, regulation, or requirement is not applicable to us.  No has become relative.  No because I said so has lost its power to restrain, restrict, and rebuttal defiance.  This tactic is a temporary fix, but does not hold in the heat of a moment.  No because I understand the ramifications of yes when done out of time is more advantageous to the human heart.  What if we didn’t do not as a result of fear of getting caught or being found out but we didn’t do because we wanted life and love in its totality without the regret of I should have, could have, and would have been better if I had accepted, affirmed, and acclimated to the warnings of the Word.  Do we present truth from the perspective of the lengths and depths of God’s love?  Do people walk away understanding that every God No means a YES advantage to their living and loving…maybe sharing the reason for the No would benefit us more than the assertion of Let Me tell you… or didn’t you hear what I said when the opposite of their choice backfires on them.

Proximity messes up everything.  Some choices or decisions we make within the auspices of a watchful eye handicap our conviction in the absence of that very same eye.  It’s not enough to train, teach, or talk in terms of right and wrong.  We have to be intentional about communicating the benefits of adhering to the standard of the Word in all situations.  There will be times when proximity will provide the opportunity to do what you’ve been told not to do.  In that moment, you may not remember or care to recall what has been said in terms of the thing in the past because you want it and think you need it RIGHT NOW.  Before you indulge, introduce, or induce consciousness THINK, TALK, and TELL yourself the truth about why you are choosing to do so.  It is your choice and comparably so your consequence to life and love.

Many Christians are accused by the world of being hypocrites and the worst examples of how one should live and love their life. Perfection seems to be the expectation or line of demarcation between the believer and non believer.    How do you say No to something you like, want, and desire?  Do you rely on the rules you’re suppose to follow, adhere to the warnings and counsel of others, or respond to the stimuli based upon what you think you need and “see” before you.? Have you ever heard anyone say “s/he know better than that…I can’t believe s/he did that, said that”?  As if living need based or giving in is beneath the human experience. As if predisposed urges, feelings, and cravings can be satisfied, silenced, or stopped merely by the talk, teaching and thought process connected to right and wrong. Good people, God-fearing people choose what they like, want, and desire over the will, way, and word of God at times.  Many of us start off saying No, hold out or unto our No for a while but then our No dissipates into pretense, phony, and predetermined proclamations of I don’t even like, want, or desire it. (RIGHT…that’s believable).  Does the Christian experience create creative liars or convicted losers at life and love? In front of people we act as if there is no struggle, strategy or strain to maintain NO when our particular vice is accessible, around, and about to absolve our conviction.

Sweets are my weakness.  Cake in particular but “homemade” baked goods in general. I have nothing against box mixes or store brought but I prefer homemade. I absolutely love desserts… so much so, that when I go out to eat I almost always have it as the appetizer before the main course. I dare not risk being too full to enjoy it at the end of the meal. This is unconventional I admit and if you don’t know me you’d probably be offset by my choice at first but then I would explain that the only real reason I go out to eat is for dessert and sushi.  I am a very good cook…there are not many entrée’s I cannot create or replicate for myself…so dinner is just dinner for me…but I do not know how to make sushi and typically, I only bake on holidays…Thanksgiving and Christmas…and instant box mixes for the most part are not a part of my cooking or baking repertoire.

Maybe it’s the investment of time, or the attention to detail that secures my preference of homemade baked goods. My grandmother use to say “you could taste the love in food”. So maybe subconsciously I equate effort and time with the experience and expression of love. I have great appreciation for the thought, time, and talent used to secure my smile.  She made certain things just because she knew I liked them.  Boy do I miss that type of attention to detail in my life and love right now.  I like you…like what I like: carrot cake, red velvet and strawberry chiffon cake.    Not different from many I too find ways or reasons to indulge in forbidden pleasures: depression, stress, or I just got a taste for something sweet.  When my mind is made up nothing deters me.  Not the counting of calories, the threat of gaining more weight, the rationale of being a good steward over my body…nor the early warnings of my father telling me to stop eating so many snickers when weight wasn’t an issue.  Now that I’m older, and have experienced the taste of my favorites I have to be intentional about safe guarding my propensity to indulge in what I like and often desire…even though I know and have been told how to do better.

Why do mothers fill the cookie jar to the brim with our favorite type of cookies and then tell us not to touch the jar without permission? Very few people can resist their sweet tooth when Oatmeal-raisin, chocolate chip, and or peanut-butter cookies are assessable. Proximity seems to dictate the promise of pleasure.  Despite the warning we find a way to partake of the cookies… in hopes that they will not notice or discover our indiscretion or indulgence.  So are we Christian’s talking, telling, and teaching discipline incorrectly?  Are we experiencing the same results of well-intentioned mothers trying to prevent the consequences of over indulgence and inappropriate consumption of the cookies in the glass cookie jar?  Are people expected to look, lure, and even like what they can clearly see and not talk, touch, or taste of it because someone said not to or it’s not right to do so without permission?  Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to speak to how to handle the impulse to indulge?  Are we effectively teaching on lookers Let Me tell you… DON’T GET CAUGHT?  Have we mastered appearing compliant when we’re really contrary in our proclamations, practice, and passions?  In our heart of hearts do we do or not do for the right reasons?  If so, the outcome of our choice would not result in feelings of shame, self loathing and a self defeatist attitude.  We would own our actions and be accountable to the truth we assert, ascertain, and acclimate regardless of the possibility of getting caught or being found out or the regret of hearing Let Me Tell You.

Similarly so, I never understood why grandmothers displayed perfectly iced cakes in the cake dish and forbid us to slice it before they were ready to cut it? Would the cake taste better in time? Did her cutting it make a difference in the experience of consumption?   I don’t know many people who simply do what they are told when it occurs to them that there’s a chance they can get away with it or that they can manage the discipline.  I for one have chosen pleasure knowing full well there would be a punishment for my actions or choice in the future.  I’ve always been a I’m out here now mind as well go all the way… make it worth the whooping, wailing, or work it’s going to take to take to try to regain good graces.  I don’t think I’m that different from others so if I think that way it is very likely that others think the very same way.  Defiance, determination, and discovery have proven to be my strength and weakness.  There are some things I’d take your word on (drugs, alcohol, and smoking) because I could see the rationale and reasoning behind  Let Me Tell You…don’t do it.  However, there are a host of others things I research on my own to decipher if I should eat the cookies from the cookie jar or cut the cake in the cake dish or wait on another to properly administer my portion.

Portion control or appropriateness is teachable if we present the pros and cons advantageously highlighting the benefits of waiting instead of insisting that people do love and life our way. By all means wait to eat the cookies and cake because you want to enjoy it without the punishment of shame, embarrassment, and feeling bad about your choice afterward. Cookies and cakes are wonderful indulgencies that create feel good sensations, sentiments, and super memories.  A good piece of cake and warm succulent cookies make the experience and expression of acts of love worthwhile, wonderful, and WOW(ing). Cake, cookies, and candy is sweet, purposeful and permissible in the right context.  Sex before or outside of marriage has emotional, spiritual and sometimes physical ramifications.  It can be the best or worst decision you make dependent upon the reasoning behind your choice. It’s your choice you will have to live with the consequence.  Experience and expression does not have to be the best teacher in this case.  Experience and expression with the right person will be magical, monumental, and miraculous.  The fact that you waited, withheld, or withstood the temptation to indulge before or out of time will secure proper handling of you and your husband/wife goodies.   And like the homemade desserts used for emphasis it will taste better in the context of a heart toward you… who is looking out for what’s good or best for you and doesn’t want you to experience or express love negatively.    If we look or view Wait…Not Yet from this heart posture of our mothers and grandmothers words…we can easily see how their words mirror God’s love of us gently admonishing us to not awake love or acts that express love before time and you will never have to regret or regress at hearing Let Me Tell You.

Maybe we will never understand the purpose of crystal candy dishes, when somebody is bound to say don’t go in, touch or eat my candy. We may never know if the tempter, temptation, or tempted is at fault when or if we indulge before it is permissible?  This discussion is only meant to pragmatically provoke how we perceive the acquisition of goodies.  Is one doomed to fail from the very beginning because initially we react solely on what we see in the cookie jar, cake or candy dish in front of us? Very few people can resist the temptation of cookies, cakes, and candies. Sugar…sweetness…sex seems to be the determinate, downfall, and detriment of risk in all mentioned scenarios. We risk scrutiny, scowls, scoldings, and separation for a taste of the allowed but currently forbidden taste.  The Word affirms in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it”. God will keep you if you want to be kept…and even when you don’t if your desire is to experience and express His heart toward you with the person of His desire, design, and designation for your living and loving.  May we gift our future spouses with the choice to only indulge with and in them as it is pleasing unto God and beneficial to our wellbeing, wholeness, and experience and expression of WOW as we live and love in His Likeness.~AntTBri