Maverick1's Blog

In Ecclesiastes 2:11, Solomon reflects on the fleeting nature of earthly achievements, realizing that all human labor and accomplishments are ultimately vanity and vexation of spirit. He concludes that nothing under the sun brings lasting profit.

I, too, have experienced the impermanence of worldly success and possessions. Despite taking pride in my work over the years, it was unexpectedly wiped away, reminding me of life's uncertainties.

Jesus Christ taught us through Peter that true significance lies in acknowledging Him as the Son of God. Only what is done in His name and for His glory holds eternal value. As Jesus affirmed Peter's confession, He revealed that spiritual truths are revealed by the Father in Heaven.

In this temporal world, nothing we labor for will endure. Our earthly possessions, achievements, and titles hold no eternal weight. The only enduring joy comes from knowing that our names are inscribed in the Lamb’s book of life.

Let us find solace and purpose in seeking eternal treasures rather than fleeting worldly pursuits.

Devotion: Thursday, July 5, 2024

It’s impossible to please God without faith.

Hebrews 11:24-

By faith Moses, when he came to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

And the scripture goes on…..

By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Women received they're dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
They were stoned, they have sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

God has provided some better things for us, and without us should not be made perfect.
So, this morning I take inventory of my faith. I’ve been measured and weighed in the balances and have found myself wanting and lacking. The handwriting is on the wall except….

I have a promise. I believe in Christ Jesus and am exercising my faith. It has not yet been made perfect and is mingled with fear, but I fear the king less daily. I fear the Lord.

To live is Christ and to die is gain.

I will continue to exercise my faith and not allow my mind and thoughts to get in the way of my faith.
Blind, automatic faith without seeing. Seeing is believing but faith is not made perfect in seeing and believing. It is made perfect by not seeing but believing.

I’m declaring my family will be made whole. My relationships restored and that that the enemy took from me and scattered abroad will be gathered together and given back to me manyfold in Christ.

I praise Him today. By faith in the Son of God and by faith in the character of God; love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, and faith.
Amen.

My Testimony today, Tuesday, April 11, 2023

To be successful you have to remain positive but the older you get the more you can become jaded. You have the right to be jaded. You’ve been hurt many times. You put up walls to avoid future hurt. Yet, this becomes your prison. Can’t live that way. Failure is assured. To find peace and happiness you have to continually risk the hurt and as many times as it takes too. Never give up on yourself or people. Peace and Salvation are called a NARROW WAY for a reason and very few will ever travel this road, stay on this road, and see it through.

Get back up. Let them hurt you again and again while maintaining your integrity. Don’t go backward. Don’t stall. Move forward. Run when you can run. Walk when you can walk. Crawl if you need to crawl but whatever you do, keep moving forward and keep risking the hurt. Forgive everyone. Also, forgive the one who has hurt you the most ——————-> YOURSELF

Failure and hurt lead to experience. The more failure and hurt the more experience. The more experience you have the more likely you crack the code and find victory.
We see through a glass darkly. There is a truth that lay beyond the darkness. Knock. Seek.

Especially when your heart is broken. After you’re broken, as long as you don’t stay down, you find all that you’ve been looking to find.

I think it’s called Faith.

These are….

Weird ramblings from a slightly older than the middle-aged man most likely pondering life too much.

As any happy person of any life experience will tell you….

When there is a choice to be made.

Choose art and not science.
Choose faith and not doubt.
Choose beauty.

It was good to be at the house of the Lord today. It was too wonderful for me.

1 Kings 10:1-9

Eye has not seen….ear has not heard……

The young man and the old man can say the same thing or things.

The difference is that the old man has lived it.

It’s not an age thing. It’s a life experience thing.

As well, the young man thinks he will grow old slowly but as all old men know, it happens suddenly. Seemingly overnight.

One day, as you look out into the sea of people, everyone looks older than you.

Then suddenly,

One day, as you look out into the sea of people, everyone looks younger than you.

It happened to me suddenly and not slowly.

I’ve met young men who were old men and I’ve met old men who were young men.

Life.

It’s about submission and surrender.

It’s about Love, so we can only hope.

Jiu-Jitsu was a passion of mine. It is a passion of mine again today. Be thankful for your passions, you aren’t promised them tomorrow.

Recently, I was rolling with a white belt. Big, strong, maybe in his late 30s or early 40s, quite possibly with many life experiences outside of the gym but on the mats of life, he’s a novice.

I am not sure if he knew he was a novice or not but I’m sure he didn’t know what he didn’t know.

I know this because I was a white belt and will always be a white belt now that I know what I do not know.

As we started the “roll” and I got grips on him, I could feel his entire body trembling with anxiety and uncertainty. White belts are incredibly dangerous because they don’t know what they don’t know. They can hurt themselves and they can hurt you because of their “fear” or because of their ”lack of fear.” I could feel him try to assert himself but to no avail. I could feel him try to escape but to no avail. At that point, the panic sets in and they fight harder.

I know this and I know what he was feeling because I was once him and from a skill level I am still him with more experienced practitioners. The main difference between me and the white belt I rolled with is simply, I know that I don’t know.

Jiu~Jitsu and life are art. Jiu~Jitsu teaches you much about life and life teaches you much about Jiu~Jitsu.

Fighting life instead of surrendering and rolling with it will get you hurt.

The white belt didn’t know that I knew he was in a bad place and that the entire time I was keeping him safe and keeping myself safe. Toward the end of our roll, I could feel him surrendering to what I knew the entire time and I could feel him trusting that I wasn’t going to hurt him or let him hurt me.

Again, trying in my own weak way to share what God has put upon my heart this morning and mean no disrespect or to claim to be a good practitioner of the art. I have submitted to young men, old men, and women on the mats thousands of times but I have learned to surrender, to learn, to grow from each role.

Life. Life. Life.

Roll with it. Don’t fight against it. Life happens to us all and the real Blackbelt learns to go with the flow and that losing isn’t losing, it’s learning. Trust that even when life has you down and it seems that its grip is too strong that it has the best intentions.

This morning am thankful for all of the young men, old men, and women that I’ve shared the mats with. You’ve taught me so much. Mostly you’ve taught me how much I don’t know and still have to learn.

I suspect, that the true Blackbelt in Jiu~Jitsu and in life knows deeply what I’m about to say…..

The Blackbelt is a Blackbelt because he or she has learned just how much they don’t know and how much they still have to learn and that growth in Jiu~Jitsu and in life is never ending.

The Blackbelt has learned how to not kick against the pricks because life always wins.

The Blackbelt has learned to just roll with it and to have a thankful heart. The true Blackbelt knows it’s not about winning. It’s about how you handle loss and never quit.

Yours truly,

Travis Whitebelt

It is said that an old dog can’t learn new tricks. I think generally speaking, that is true. At more than a half century old (52), it’s easy to stop learning and to stop growing. You know, easy to become set in your ways.

Yet, I find the most impressive people have decades of experience, but still have the exuberant joy of a teen. These people are thought provoking in conversation and a joy to be around recreationally.

I can see that I’m not evolving and am becoming so set in my ways that I may become a grumpy old man if unwilling, as an old dog, to learn new tricks.

Recently, I was having fun, being silly, and almost childlike in my behavior. I was behaving as if I were young, wild and free. The kids around me were loving it and I was enjoying their company as well. Immediately I felt healthier, alive and giddy. It was as if I had gained twenty years back. Later, a person a wee bit older than me said, “Isn’t it time to act your age?” I began to relive in my mind how goofy and foolish I had looked. Instantly, I felt sad and felt even older than my age.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot.

Look your age, act your age, and so on!

From birth to grave, so many are in bondage not to the laws of God but to the laws of all of the little gods of this world.

Freedom is feeling alive, happy and free. It’s feeling confident, open, and sexy even if you’re 100!

People take longevity drugs, supplements and all kinds of things to try and live longer but really what we need to do is put more life in our living….

Smile more.
Love more.
Dance more.
Be silly more.
Reinvent your clothing and style more often.
Dance and speak love, peace and prosperity more.
Forgive more.
Dream more.
Go for it more.

Life is a grand adventure and you only lose out when you think there is anything to lose.

The Bible says, until you lose this life, you won’t gain life.

I’m ready to lose life. Not my values (my values matter for me, not someone else’s) but lose the dogma and restraints that others enforce upon me. I’m so tired of living in a way that restrains me because I’m afraid of being judged or making a mistake.

Living unto the Lord, for me, is accepting His grace, still adhering to my deepest values but being happy and free.

The life I live is making me sick and depressed.

Worry and fear based living has got to go.

And the people who would judge me for living my highest and best, authentic life, are all complainers, miserable, gossipers, and hurting.

Sure, most of them go to church every Sunday, smile as they look up into the first heaven from the choir, and are good people as they themselves define good people but as soon as church lets out, here we go gossiping, complaining, whining, and finding everything negative to think and talk about.

I am NOT saying all Church people are this way but I am saying a lot of US are acting like OLD DOGS who can’t learn a few new tricks before this thing wraps up. Some of the best people I know are also some of the most unhappiest people I know outside of church. They aren’t having fun and yes, I know there is more to life than having fun but if you aren’t having fun then you’re not doing something right.

I’m ready to be part of the party and to show folks that you can love the Lord and still have a lot of fun. Life has to have some adventure. It’s so easy to get in a place mentally where you take yourself to seriously.

I want to be the old man that has experience and wisdom but that the young people can relate to! I want to be the old man that the old people say ”act your age to”, “you are too old to act that way”, “you are too old to dress that way” and so forth.

I’m holding on too tight and I’m going to learn some new tricks.

So who is in? Who wants to give ‘em something to talk about and learn some new tricks?

Cause this sexy, confident, positive, loving old dog is about to learn some new tricks!

Absolutely. Words and ideas are the weapons of our warfare. The weapons of warfare are not carnal but are spiritual, mighty, and are of love and of power. They are mighty indeed and pull down strongholds that are in our lives.

Sasha and I are taking inventory of our past and of our lives. As a couple, who are we? What do we value? Are our actions in line with our values? If not, what action steps will we take in order to get in alignment with our shared values?

One of the things we realized during this discussion is that we value faith and charity above all. Yet, we often act on our fears and insecurities rather than acting in love and faith. We are determined to get more in line with what we value.

In a world gone mad with judgements and fear, we have decided to begin each day centering ourselves and making it our purpose to live in such a way that the fruit of the Spirit abound in our lives.

All the shall nots that we are judged for wouldn’t be an issue if we spent our time exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self discipline, and faith.

The Law ~ Moses commandments (not all the sundry laws) was the school teacher that brought us to repentance and grace. Notice the commandments never attack someone’s life, liberties or lifestyle. Each of the commandments helps one avoid self harm or harm to their brother and sisters. The commandments help us realize we cannot live it without grace. To me, they basically say not to become enslaved by anything or anyone and to devote one’s self fully to Yeshua.

Grace ~ When grace abounds in one’s life, the fruit of the Spirit will abound. Who can possibly speak against the fruit of the Spirit? Love and joy? No commandment against those? Self control and gentleness? Beautiful living and we aspire to have the fruit of the Spirit abounding in our marriage and life so that all we come in contact with, experience unconditional love. To love you, I must learn to love myself, to forgive myself and show my own self grace. Deeply, I believe that Yeshua is much more interested in the shall dos than the shall nots.

While it’s easy to get confused with all the people in our lives pointing a finger and making accusations, if you really take a deep dive, one will find that living out your faith is quite simple. Do your best to avoid the shall nots but realize that God’s Grace abounds and LOVE covers a multitude of transgressions.

Abide in Christ with intentional living and you will have confidence in Christ.

This will be hanging on our wall in 2023 to remind us that God’s grace is sufficient and that we can have confidence that God is with us and taking care of us.

What are your values? Goals? Are they written?

2023 is going to be a breakthrough year for us. How about you?

Keeping it simple here and living our faith daily. Loving and communicating with each other without fear of repercussion. Playful. Happy. Trusting. Work hard. Play hard.

The world would change if we truly exercised this…
Why can’t we stop judging one another?
Everyone’s individual righteousness is as filthy rags. No one should judge

One today is better than two tomorrow.

Don't procrastinate. Your life's mission should be to LOVE and to have lasting happiness. Don't indulge in the things that yield only temporal happiness.

Indulge often in the things that yield long term happiness. Begin with LOVE and end with LOVE. Do your best and defeat procrastination.

Life goes by as quick as a puff of smoke becomes invisible. Has your spirit evolved? Have you found yourself and your purpose?
Fix the temple first. Fix what is broken inside of it and the outside will take care of itself.