Compliments

Work in progress. some of this may be a STRETCH

What is the role of a compliment?

What is a compliment
A compliment is affirmation, a confirmation, it testifies to truth.
- A compliment is the witness to truth

Because a compliment is affirmation, and is based on truth;
- A compliment is given in/with the character of the giver.
- The giver's character/actions should be congruent with this truth.

A compliment should be given freely.
Flattery is a comment made with the goal of getting something out of it.
Flattery is manipulation.

Compliments should not be given in response to manipulation.
- Instead, the root of the problem should be spoken to.

For ultimate effect, compliments should be Spirit-led

Can a compliment be pro-active?
- Would it then be prophecy? or best-restated?

When a compliment is given without expectation or manipulation.
It is freely given, it's easier for someone to give.

Reasons why it's hard to give a compliment
- Fear of man - If you were free of fear of man, their reaction won't disrupt you.
- Your false perception of their reaction won't even exist.
- Your true negative perception will not de-motivate you, the compliment is for them.
- You don't believe the truth about them
- You probably don't believe the truth about you.

hah!

I had a thought. I wouldn't call it a vision.
Someone yelling in my face, "DON'T YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?"
How can I answer that?

YES!--NO!

(imagine that was said aloud, and the NO was a two-stutter delay behind YES, but in your mind no almost overlapped the yes.)

Really, maybe it was a vision. But I'm not too worried about answering that. It doesn't need to be. It's being worked out...

I might yell that in someone's face some day... whoa.. harsh..

Train dream

Don't remember all of the details.
Was at a museum maybe?
There were train tracks.
There was a steam locomotive.
I was with someone there, saw them there.
I was familiar with them, but did not really know them personally.
There was another person.
I was in the train while it was stopped, looking at it... museum style..
The familiar man was looking at it too, in the train.
The other man killed familiar man.
He was wounded.. fatally it seems.
He was hit around the midsection.
He staggered a step or two next to the tracks and fell.
His head and body on opposite sides of one rail.
The other man seemed to control the steam locomotive with a lever on the platform.
He started to move the train forward to decapitate familiar man.

I woke up, I do not recall if the train rolled over familiar man.

Neither man stood out as the "good guy"

The train was made in Germany.

I felt it was wrong to kill the first man. But not illegal.

I was not familiar with the other man.

I did not really grieve familiar man's death.
I woke up slightly distressed.

Insight

So, having recognized that I've been comparing myself to others.
I recognize that I don't love myself much. And I see that below that is my poor understanding of God's love for me.
Now I recognize the problem. What can I do about it?
Want's the difference between resting and pressing in?
Now I'll try to rest, trust. I'll read what He's said about His love for us. I'll listen to what He speaks to me.
Some things I have to take by faith.
Also, the prayer and fellowship with my fellow students has been invaluable.

Dream: Nail in my head

I had a dream last night that I had a nail stuck in my head.
I used a slide-hammer to pull it out.
It was scary, I didn't want to hurt my brain.
I carefully held the slide hammer, and gently tapped to get it loose, then I pulled and gently twisted on the nail to remove it from my skull.
when it was out, I could see what it looked like.
it didn't look like a normal nail.

Maybe I'll draw the nail and put it on this post.

When I removed it, I could feel a pressure change inside my head.
I then searched for a bandage to cover the hole, so nothing bad would enter my brain.
I put my finger over it as I walked, searching for a small band-aid.
I woke up, felt my head in the spot the nail was in.. no hole... just a dream.

Striving

So. Lately I've been working through stuff.
Comparing myself to others.
Striving.

Two days ago at school they talked about competition/comparing.
Yesterday they talked about rest.

I've been feeling like God's been telling me to 'Abide'.
Which brings up quotes from The Big Lebowski.

It seems so hard to do. To relax??!?
Will God's hand still be over me? Even if I'm not always looking to make sure I'm directly underneath it?

Will He really direct me and guide me even if I'm not making serious effort on my own?

Is he really the author and finisher of my faith?
Will he really keep me?

I want more of God, doesn't that mean I need to stare at His hand constantly?

Ugh. I can't keep striving, it's wearing me out.

I guess I'll collapse now. Think God will catch me?

How does God introduce me?

I've not been OK the last few days.
I know that I really don't know who I am.
I wonder, how does God introduce me?
Does He say to me, "Christopher, my little ______"
What goes in that blank?
Some dads call their son what they want them to become. "My little quarterback," they might say.
I asked God. He hasn't told me.

Bill Johnson said that "sometimes God doesn't let us know what we carry, we might focus on who we are, and not who He is."
I don't think that's my answer, but it helps.

Pastor Joe told me a wise thing once, about how some people's problems are easily seen, some people's aren't.
That's true, and I think also true of talents or gifts.

Sometimes I think my talents aren't easily seen. I sometimes get jealous of people with musical ability, etc.

Comparing myself to others never gets me to a good destination.

I find that I've lost focus yet again. Looking to people and not to God.
Bah! How and when did this happen?

God's will

Perhaps the place to look for His will is not in rules or guidelines, but to seek intimacy with Him first and foremost.