THE DOOR

I took this picture not long ago and call it, ‘The Door’!

Notice the crooked angles, gaping holes, the broken and splintered planks and the shadows that are cast along the deep worn lines of weather and time. And then look at the large red handles that are there to open these awkward and very heavy doors up.

For me, this picture is the perfect metaphor of our lives. Like the marks on this door, our lives reflect the many details that tell the story of who we are. And like every story, we have our own personal mysteries and scars, our broken places with gouging splinters and gaping holes and those shadows that are cast across it. They hang on the surface for all to see, just like this door, but the most important part of this picture to me isn't what is seen, but what is not. Just as it is in real life God, who is always there, sees everything... not only what’s on the surface, but what lies behind the doors. He knows how every crooked angle came into existence, how each gaping hole was formed, how every broken place with all its splinters exploded on the scene... He knows every shadow and time-worn line... yes, He sees it all! He knows each hurt and every wound that has occurred in our lives that created the scabs that formed, which I call, the doorway of our soul. And it’s His hands alone that placed those handles there so those extremely heavy doors can eventually be opened.

So think about this with me for just a moment as you look at the picture of that door and consider this… “How precious it is when someone we know allows us deep inside their life, past all the scars and brokenness and into their wounded heart?” Then ask yourself this, how often have you taken that rare privilege for granted and, while you were in that sacred place, selfishly thought only of yourself and your wants and needs, and not of them? And instead of bringing healing and the gift of love, you added more damage and scars to door itself?

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 that, “Love cares more about others that it does about itself!” That being the case, look hard at those doors… you see, it’s not just someone else’s doors you're looking at, but your own. With that in mind, don’t you think it’s time that you "do unto others as you yourself would have it done unto you"? Love heals a multitude of wounds as it covers a myriad of offenses. Let me leave you with this thought... love as much and as hard as you yourself want to be loved.

Life in pictures brings meaning to life!

© 2014 Steven Bliss

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JUST DON'T DO IT!

In 1988 the athletic shoe company NIKE launched the slogan “Just Do It”! It was their way of reinventing the term, ‘go for it’. Since then it’s become an integral part of modern culture and used in a myriad of ways, many of which that have nothing to do with its original campaign. With that in mind, I’d like to address something extremely personal on my end but I believe extremely applicable to all who will read, and perhaps listen to what I say and take to heart the words of a man that has lived and experienced more in his 60 years of life than most will ever do. I want to reach out to men and women around the world and create a wave of thought that will both challenge you and go against the grain of popular thought; especially today’s liberal mindset that takes us far away from principle and virtue. I will speak from my own life and not that of others to deliver what I want to convey in hopes of driving the point deep into the hearts of all who will read this. My ultimate hope is that truth will prevail and true freedom will be achieved as a result of acting upon what I’m about to say.

I’m going to make a ridiculously bold statement here… “Sex has absolutely no meaning apart from love!" It has no more value than the momentary relief one gets from scratching the itch from a mosquito bite. You might argue that sex and love are synonymous, but I completely disagree. In all my years of living and striving, failed relationships and the devastating after-effects of wild sexual encounters, I can safely say with great clarity that love and sex are not one in the same, nor are they a prelude to each other. They actually have a wide chasm between them that is only closed through the intimacy that total commitment and abandonment of self as well as all else to the devotion two people give and receive from each other when they declare to each other what I call the "Agreement of Oneness”. Anything else is nothing more than what the Bible calls fornication. Fornication is simply put, consensual sex for the sake of pleasure outside of the realm of the declaration of oneness. It is an insult to the image of God in us as it completely denies His own personal Oneness. There is no commitment or purity outside of God's intended oneness. It is a hard concept to grasp given the fallen world in which we live and the societal ideologies we are continually and ruthlessly bombarded with every single day. From television to movies, books to magazine ads, you name it, the idea that anything goes is deceptively and with great purpose shoved down our throats until we actually accept and believe it is the norm. But it is not! As I said in a recent conversation I had, just because something appears to be real doesn’t mean it is. Civilizations rise and fall and historically sex has always played a major role in their demise. Not conjecture, fact!

That may have been a mouthful and a paragraph that causes some more grief than joy, but it is one that should be highly considered given the gravity of what I’m hopefully going to convey here. Let's raise the bar… take it to an otherworldly level shall we say. Let's peel back the layers of the onion and say what most are afraid to ever say, or agree with for that matter: sex outside of the confines of its original intention is without a doubt a key factor in the Great Deception! It massages the flesh, the id, the ego of me that goes against the design of humility and selflessness and the grid of real love. It curses the original design of God and the original intention for which it was created. What do I mean original intention? I imagine most will read this and think me a prude with no concept of the pleasure sex brings. On the contrary, I spent the better part of a lifetime totally deceived by its powerful and delectable bounty dining at its table and eating of its delicacies over and over again. I was, shall we say, a glutton of its persuasive delights. But the truth is I was fully, and I mean completely and utterly deceived by its illusive and destructive lie.

I am neither prude nor under the stagnant religious idea that sex is for one purpose only; procreation. But let me be clear, the concept of procreation in and of itself is magnificently and mysteriously overwhelming for those who choose to engage it at its deepest levels.

Procreation is not just the propagating of oneself or a race, nor is it about the preservation of a bloodline, it has far more significance than what is obvious. Procreating is co-creating. The ultimate gift of God given to man to share in with the two halves of Himself, which God put in man and woman, coming together in unity and oneness, as He is One, and doing what only God Himself is the author of, creating life itself. It is the reproduction of His own image. It is His joy and great pleasure for us to be like Him! It is the celebration of our uniqueness in His likeness and our God-given familial right to become one and reproduce Him; one man, one woman... the masculine and feminine natures of God as one. What glory, what power! What splendor! What privilege! I’m going to tell you a truth you may not want to hear as the lies that have been told for so long make it almost impossible to engage with our tainted flesh driven minds; there is incredible pleasure in our participation in the Original Blueprint. There is profound satisfaction achieved in the deep joy that comes from oneness. It is not just the bringing of life into existence but the sharing of intense joy and incredible pleasure the process of bringing that life into existence holds. In it we are able to experience God’s own joy achieved in unity. God intended sex to be the perfect communication between the two halves; the ultimate picture of His own personal desire for intimacy with us! It is the ultimate knowing (in Hebrew it’s the word yada) of not just one another, but Him. The supreme giving and receiving mechanism that can be achieved no other way by those created in His image. (If you want something to think about in light of the fallacies of homosexuality, look no further) Though procreation is a part of all facets of creation, it is not a pleasure-based reality in the rest of creation as it has one purpose alone: increase. If it were just for the purpose of “gettin' ‘er done” then it would be over as fast as it began. Knowing is not necessary for that. Anything apart from the original design is to lower ourselves to our most base-nature and imagining ourselves to be something we are not… animals or worse. How great is such deception? incomprehensible!  It is nothing more than the systematic devaluation of the image of God in us and the demoralization of the creation itself. In other words, it is like spitting in the face of God as one arrogantly take their un-rightful place upon the throne of their life, which is nothing more than rebellion, and entering into agreement with God’s greatest enemy and destroyer of all souls, Lucifer himself, arrogantly fall on our own sword. And to think, all that over the illusion of the momentary pleasure derived outside of the intended realm of good where nothing is restricted and true pleasure is undefiled.

How could we be so blind? Why would we believe something so twisted? You may say it's always been this way, you’re making more out of it than it is, then let me ask you a question, what is the oldest profession on this planet? The answer is there is only one; prostitution! And what is prostitution? It is the original instrument of darkness to persuade the fallen mind into believing its need for momentary gratification as it ultimately objectifies and mares the image of God. It equates man with his supposed 'animal instincts' and gives him a deceptive level of gratification that carries with it neither  responsibility or commitment. Is it any wonder so many children are born out of wedlock? Darkness always twists and perverts what God creates and sees as 'good', and in this insane microwave mentality of a world we live in, our darkest minds are exposed for all to see. Sadly, we celebrate the dark rather than call it dark and see it for what it truly is, grotesque. When we live in deception and function beneath the realities of who God has created us to be, and we no longer reflect the image of the One who created us and we become the terrifying creations of our own imaginations. And the nightmare continues for all those who are deceived and refuse to believe the truth. No wonder the saying sex sells has such power!

There is no judgment here; no condemnation. I have no fingers to point. If I pointed one at you there would be three pointing back at me. I have done all that can be done… sadly, even as a believer in the God who made me I have done the unconscionable and inconceivable. I have been the fool, agreeing with God's enemy, shaming His Name. But here is where hope and forgiveness come in... I personally believe there comes a time in our lives when we wake up and realize we have been brutally deceived and say enough is enough, and then, out of our own failures and experiences, we pay it forward by pulling the curtain back on the master of all deception, Lucifer himself, shining the Light of Truth on the path that points the way to freedom and the joy it brings. To snatch from the fire, as it were, those who are perishing! Honestly, I wish someone had told me these things forty five years ago when I began my own personal plunge into the darkest deception man has ever known. But out of my own deception I can be bold and make the truth known in hopes that someone, somewhere, even if it’s just you, will hear it and make the decision to obey. If it's true that “blessed is the man/woman whose trust is the Lord"... then you won't be disappointed.

In the meantime... just don't do it!

© 2014 Steven Bliss

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LOVE NEVER RUNS...

Though love runs deep

Runs wide, runs far...

Love holds fast when the going is hard

Though it can't be seen, you can feel its touch

The dichotomy of love...

It never runs...

Ever!

© 2013 Steven Bliss

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DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE PART 2

It takes faith to go into that place where God brings you before the dragons of your life, all those things that stand in the way of you fully realizing God's destiny for you. What kind of faith are we talking about here? Come down the rabbit hole with me and lets discover it together.

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for...” what are you hoping for? Does it line up with what can only be discovered through an intimate relationship with God? Because you’re in the world, are those things worldly or of a higher hope? In the same way, faith is the “conviction of things not seen…” if you only walk by what you see then you will never realize there’s a whole world of possibilities in the unseen. Conviction here means determined confidence. Are you convinced? What is holding back the power of God in your life? What is it that you know God has spoken to you about yet seems to be held just outside your reach? I guarantee there is something God wants out of your way… Now is the time to address it.

Now is time to become the person God created you to be… that takes faith! 

© 2013 Steven Bliss
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COMMITMENT: THE POWER OF LOVE

    I recently had the privilege of spending some very close and intimate time with two people I not only admire, but to whom I owe my entire existence, my mother and father, who have been married for over 63 years and together for almost 65. People like them are a dying breed in this world as are the number of years most couples spend together, which is less than a quarter of the time my parents have been married. Sad! Unfortunately, I speak from personal experience.
    What is the reason for this generations microwave mentality? That “shoot first, ask questions later” perspective that believes life is the Burger King slogan, “HAVE IT YOUR WAY”. If you don’t like it, just get a new one! How could we have such a shallow attitude towards something so sacred? Like racehorses we blow out of the gate, but sadly most won’t finish the race? Well, I think I may have hit pay dirt in regards to the answer to that question as I listened closely to my parents talk about life, love and their undying devotion to one another.
    A year ago I introduced my parents to someone who means very much to me. As we sat around the dinner table at my parent’s house talking and sharing a meal, the conversation evolved into something far more interesting. Out of nowhere my friend asked the most incredible question that, until that very moment I had never heard my parents address, or even talk about. “What would you say are the keys to having a marriage that lasts as long as yours has?” she asked. BRILLIANT! How is it that after all these years I’ve never asked them that? At that very moment I watched the look of great satisfaction come upon their faces as their responses began to flow.
    My father spoke first. “I’d have to say it’s all about commitment. That no matter what may come, good or bad, you never waiver in that commitment.” Then it was my mother’s turn, and she said, “I’d have to say it’s being willing to let go of those things that bother you and accept them for who they are.” I can only remember sitting there speechless as time stood still. Though I know other things were said, I was stuck in their initial responses. Profound!
    If those two sentences were the meal, then at that point I had no capacity to consume another bite. I was satiated.
    Little did I know, that one single moment and their two simple yet penetrating answers would play over and over again in my head for the next year. But not just in my head, in my day-in-day-out perspectives and actions towards my own evolving understanding towards relationship. Sadly, I had never fully realized the feast they were serving that day in any of my personal relationships. Though I thought I was doing the best I could, I fell way short of such understanding, acceptance and devotion. I realized that what made my parents who they are, and their obvious success in marriage, was something I had never fully taken hold of in the depths of my soul. I struggled with rejection and did what I thought was necessary and expected in order to be accepted. But I was just going through the motions, not acting out of a heart of pure devotion and commitment. But all that was all about to change.
    As certain unexpected changes and challenges arose over the following months, something within me began to stir. I was experiencing something deep in my soul towards the woman I loved. A level of devotion that inspired a deep sense of selflessness and the willingness to sacrifice at all costs for the one I love. I realized that "I" was not the important one, but rather she was; and it rang like a signal bell in the quiet of my heart. Suddenly I understood that, just like God who willingly sacrificed His only Son out of a deep and abiding love for His bride (and me), I was willing to lay everything down for her. Though she never once verbally asked for it nor seemed to expect it, but I began to experience within myself a level of commitment I had never understood. The same love and commitment the Bible says Jesus had; the love I am to imitate as one created in His image and redeemed by that love. I’ve heard it taught many times but ateaching only communicates so much. To see it lived out in front of my eyes by my father in total commitment and devotion to my mother in her weakness and most vulnerable state (my mother has been struggling physically for years) exemplified the essence of Jesus, the Bridegroom. At that moment, it was birthed in me. Sacrifice without expectation; selflessness devoid of all desire for personal gain… love without reservation or condition. It’s what I give, not what I get.
    My father is a very funny and unusual man. He has the most positive attitude of any person I have ever known. But to illustrate his love and devotion to his wife, I want to share a moment I was fortunate enough to experience that shines a light on his amazing yet very conscious commitment to her. First, my dad is 87 years old. He just had hip replacement surgery. My mother, who is almost 84, is not in the best of health and in many ways she is like a small child who needs constant care. My dad has taken care of her without fail for these last five years as she has steadily declined. These days she gets around with walkers and wheelchairs needing oxygen to get her through the day. I was there to take care of her as he was going through his surgery and rehab.
    The day after his surgery my dad was doing a little bit better and looking forward to my mom coming to visit him. After we arrived and were sitting there talking, I heard my dad say to my mom, “Merle, where is my wedding ring?” My mom, sitting in her wheelchair looking very frail with oxygen tubes in her nose said, “I don’t know Ray, I think you left it at home because you couldn’t wear it during surgery.” My dad responded with, “I need it!” “Why?” she asked. “Because I don’t want any of the nurses around here hitting on me!” he said. I busted out laughing! At first I thought he was being silly. “Really dad?” But as I looked up at them both staring at each other I suddenly realized he was dead serious. The epiphany hit me of this man’s deep devotion and intense commitment to his wife. So much so that He didn’t want any other women to think he was available. And at 87 years old no less!
    What passion! What incredible love! Such profound integrity and a deep sense of responsibility he has about himself when it comes to honoring and loving his wife.
    Tragically we live in a time when if something isn’t exactly the way we want it to be, mindlessly we are willing to discard it. We think there’s always something better. We don’t want the inconvenience of the bad along with the good… only the good and nothing else. We don’t realize that our lives play a role in the evolution of another’s and sadly we miss out on what God intended us to know by walking together through all things. We say vows, but we don’t really understand their meaning or power, so consequently we don’t mean them. And unfortunately, all too often, we don’t realize what we has till it’s gone.
    Thankfully God’s love and commitment to us is exactly like what my dad said: never wavering! Though we ebb and flow, and more often than not, run away from Him, and at a distance, His unfailing love towards us is steady and devoted. His commitment is not based in whether or not we love Him back. He waits patiently, never leaving us nor forsaking us. His eyes are staring intently at us… He is faithful, ALWAYS. Who loves like that?
    Maybe the little nuggets inside this very personal story of mine strike a chord deep within your heart? Or maybe you’ve already figured it all out. If that’s the case, then teach it to others. There is a dearth of understanding when it comes to all this, especially in men. Is it any wonder the world is in the shape it is? And how about the church? Divorce is rampant amongst those who should know better and act differently. The church doesn’t need another seminar, it needs its leaders to lead or get out of the way.
    If in reading this you find yourself confronted by your own lack of commitment and realize that you possess a flippant, self-serving attitude when it comes to others, seeing yourself as the priority no matter how you spin it, especially towards the one you claim you love and who loves you back, then think about my dad and his love for his bride for a moment. Imagine yourself like him and start right now to take back the ground you have willingly given up. You will save your marriage, restore your character and renew your desire for the One you have let slip from the center of your heart. Do it first with God. Return to your first love… then do it with the one you love. I promise you will see the power of God in your life and experience Him as never before. As long as you’re on this side of the grass there’s always a chance. It’s up to you to take it!

    Commitment is the power of love!


   * On December 17th, 2013 at 2:39 PM at 84 years and 15 days of age, my mom looked into the eyes of Jesus and saw her mom for the first time in 22 years. As difficult as it was for all of us to let her go, she is no longer in pain and the misery of merely existing. Pray for my dad if you think of it, he's actually doing really well and at peace knowing she is now at peace and with the lover of her soul. Thanks! SB

© 2013 Steven Bliss
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DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE PART 1

I loved Tim Burton's masterpiece rendition of Alice In Wonderland. For me it has some of the most amazing life analogies woven through it, especially the idea that Alice, in the real world, was being required to be something she was not. Does that sound familiar? Have you found yourself there?

Alice was about to find herself in an arranged marriage she had no interest in or desire for. But the pressures of those around her to comply were both controlling and stifling. She was told she would be happy because of the security she would receive due to the enormous wealth and prestige the union would bring her, but the truth was, Alice would be marrying someone who was a pig of a man. Her life would have been one of emptiness, despair, remorse and regret.

It was Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole where her spiritual destiny was to slay the dragons of her life that held her back, revealing the truth of who she really was, giving her the power and courage to say NO MORE to what others thought she should be, and the freedom to be in real life who she was created to be! With the strength to resist the norm and break from others expectations, Alice arrived at her own authentic destiny. And so it is with God...

In this first video I ask the question how close is close enough when you want to truly know someone? At what point do you stop and say "that's close enough"?

In this crazy world of failed relationships and broken promises, closeness is a very difficult thing to achieve. And if it's difficult to be intimate with another human being, how much more difficult is it to be intimate with God Himself? 
The truth is there is an enemy who wants nothing more than for you and I to think it's beyond the realm of possibilities.

For most of us, it's easier to be like Israel at Mt. Sinai who told Moses to go up on the mountain and talk to God for them because to them He was far too scary to ever be close with. They didn't want the intimacy of a face to face encounter. All they heard was thunder and lightening and the roar of His voice, but for Moses he heard a different sound. He heard God say, “Come up here”! Moses was unafraid because he had developed a deep intimate relationship with YHVH and longed to be in His presence more than he did the very people God had called him to lead.

Come with me on a personal journey in this series of video blogs and discover the depth and power of a simple little Hebrew word from the Bible... yada, which means, “to know”. Maybe you'll be like me and discover there is nothing more important than being intimate with the One who made you! 
Take a trip down the rabbit hole and discover who you truly are, not according to what others think or say about you, or even how you percieve yourself, but according to what God says and how He sees you. It's there you will discover the reward that awaits you… the power of love that will unlock the totally unique and authentic, YOU!

© 2013 Steven Bliss
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FAITH LIKE A ROCK

Living the real life of faith means you will never know where you’re going to end up. It requires trusting Someone who is leading you that you can’t see. Faith, not understanding or reason, is a life designed around knowing God who calls you to go and trusting Him with all the things you can’t figure out.

One of the biggest traps I’ve fallen into over the years is idea that if I just have enough faith God will bring me the success I want in this world. But that's just not real. You may argue that God does promise to prosper us and give us success, but perception can be deception if you limit your understanding to Webster’s definition of the word “prosper”. The Bible’s definition is very different from his, though they can cross paths along the way. Real success for the true believer in the God of the Bible is not what we think it is based on our limited human and very worldly media driven understanding. The success God wants us to have where we prosper the most is all about our knowing Him. The more we know Him, the greater our personal level of wisdom, which inspires a much higher level of knowledge producing what can be defined as true understanding. If you think that sounds ethereal or otherworldly… well, maybe so, but what does that have to do with true success or arriving at our destination? Everything, for the final stage in a life of faith is the ultimate attainment of true character, but in the progressive attaining of that character we will encounter many significant changes along the way; ones that, if we are honest, needed to take place.

The life of faith is not one glorious mountaintop experience after another or, as it is so often romantically stated, “soaring on eagles’ wings high above the fray”, but the day in and day out grinding it out myriad of experiences, all the while attempting to walk without fainting-though we will faint, trusting without seeing-though we will struggle to believe, and engage without doubting-though doubt cast its dark shadow over every one of our fragile minds.

It's not a question of whether holiness comes with sanctification, but something far deeper… it’s about the sweet fruit that comes much further down the road than we ever wished or imagined. Faith will be tested and proved so that it will stand even when all around it is crumbling. Abraham is not just an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a clear picture of the life a simple man can have when he lives in a close intimate relationship with the Creator of all things. This kind of faith is tried and true, built solely on the solid foundation of trusting the One True God. As it was said of Abraham, so it should be said of us, “Abraham believed God…” This is pure righteousness and sanctification purified by the fire of God’s love.

Maybe for you the tests have seemed too hard or unfair? Maybe the course you've been on has ended in disaster and the pressure is just too much to bear? Maybe you feel God doesn’t hear, or care… or maybe for someone reading, all hope is gone?

Let me encourage you right now as you read this, no matter what you may "feel" today, no matter what you have gone through, no matter what losses you may have incurred or pain endured, STOP! Right now, wherever you are, choose to change your mind... lift up your hands to Him though you are buried in despair. Right there, right now, tell Him that no matter what it looks like, right this very minute tell Him you believe. Say it out loud so your soul can hear! Repeat what Job said, “Though You slay me, (though You crush me) yet will I praise You!” God knows, God hears and God cares.

Whatever circumstances you may find yourself in, God has allowed it. The way God perfects us is exactly the same way perfection is wrought in nature. It is by pressure the finest of all things are brought into existence like: oil, diamonds, gold, perfume and many other fine things. So it is with God! He uses the pressures of our circumstances to perfect us. We can’t comprehend it because we don’t like it or think that we need it, but we do!  

So I encourage you, agree with God that it is necessary and allow Him to have His way with your life. Tell Him to BRING IT ON! I promise you, if you do you will begin to smell the sweet fragrance you destined to become and your radiance will be like that of pure gold and your brightness like the clearest diamond reflecting the sun.

Living by faith as Abraham did most often reveals that where we are going is never really known until we get there. That takes trust… and trust takes faith. And this is His promise to those who will welcome His path, "those who trust in the Lord will NOT be disappointed". For the one who believes, failing is never failure, it’s only a correction in the course.

© 2013 Steven Bliss
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