Christ like Mindset

Week 3: Christ-like mindset

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:1-5 NIV)

Week one we learned what a prayer closet is, and its purpose, which is to connect us with God with out any distractions from the physical world. On week two it was all about giving God His well deserved thank you, for all He has done, and also to cut ties to all the things and people we have replaced Him with. This week is a special week because its a week that we will focus on ourselves.
During this week, as we enter into our prayer closet, we will still strive to improve on our sense of eliminating distractions, making our time more personal, as well as thanking God continuously. We are also going to focus on having a more Chirst-like mentality. In doing so, how could we ever be more like Christ if we do not understand his ministry.
Many people look at Jesus ministry, and focus on the deeds He did, like feeding 5000, walking on water, casting out demons, and even raising people from the dead. We tend to focus on the miraculous wonders He accomplished in the name of the Lord. In doing so we miss the key importance of who He truly was, a willing servant.
  Yes, that's right, Jesus ministry uniqueness came from His will to be a servant to his brothers and sisters but more importantly to God the Father.  One lesson that will never cease to humble my heart is when Jesus was talking with his disciples. They were arguing amongst themselves about who was the greatest amongst themselves. Im sure they all had valuable points as to why they would be considered to be the greatest, but Jesus told them “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35 NIV)
We can not take this point lightly. We as believers are called to spread the love of God, and what better way is there to show God's love than to be a willing servant. We live in a time where we focus on how we can advance, how we can make moves to put ourselves in a better predicament. Most of us are willing to cheat, kill, and lie just to get that promotion. We care too much about ourselves than our struggling brothers and sisters.
So in our prayer closet all this week, we shall look at ourselves. We will speak out against our own selfishness. We will change and diligently seek ways to be more of a servant. Ways that we  could serve on the job, we could serve in the community, but most importantly ways to serve God. There is so much that we could do if we were just willing to uplift others rather than ourselves.
If we do not fix our mindset to focus on more than ourselves, how could we ever hear and receive the voice of God when He tries to speak to us. God could tell us something that we may not want to hear, but we would ignore Him because He is not abiding to/by our wants, when in reality He is looking at something that is bigger than we could ever be. It is imperative to be "one in spirit and one in mind" with God. While sharing the exact same love Christ did. I encourage you now to go into your prayer closet with the most humble spirt. First eliminate your distractions, then thank God for who He is to you and all He has done. Then finally on this day put your selfish ambitions down and focus on becoming one with God.

Week 2: Gratitude

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. (1 Samuel 12:24 NIV)

     Every month there is a reason to show honor to those around us by saying "Thank You" for who you are and what you do. Every year in the month of May we celebrate all the mothers in the world, and do the same for all the fathers in June. We have labor day for those who work, memorial day for the fallen soldiers, and Veterans day for those who has given service in our military. We give our respects to those who are to be remembered on 9/11. We have Teacher Appreciation Day, Grandparents Day, and even Cafeteria Worker Appreciation Week.
We come up with every reason to celebrate our Pastors, Doctors and Nurses, Husbands and Wives, friends and family, and children; but how often do we seek to honor and show our appreciation towards God. We don't at least not very often in a genuine sense, we carelessly say "Thank you Father" as we pray.
This week is going to be different. As we enter our prayer closets this week we will focus on the wonderful things that God has done. This week it is necessary to show our gratitude by simply saying "thank you" to God for all He has done. All this week we shall seek God simply to give Him his overdue expression of appreciation. What we fail to realize is that God is everlasting, and only what He does will stand up to the test of time. So why do we show gratitude to everybody else, and not Him is beyond me, because only the very things He controls will truly shine in the darkest of times.
It does not matter how small the act of love is, or how great the magnitude of mercy, it is the fact that God Himself cared enough about YOU to wake YOU up and give YOU another chance to get it right. God has given many of us a financial breakthrough, we have thanked the person He has used, but never thanked the Lord for sending them. God has blessed us with mentors and advisors, but we have never thanked Him for the encouraging words that God gave them to speak to us.
We as a community have thanked many people, uplifting the man and honoring his deeds, but never have truly honored God who gave the messenger the message and visionary the vision. We have allowed the physical world to distract us yet again from our spiritual world, which is where God lives. After today we will strive to focus more on the spiritual world, we shall listen to the words that Samuel have spoken in this chapter, in verse 20 and 21, he tells his people that they have done wrong, but has been awarded grace yet again, and to get it right and never go back to worshipping and idolizing  the unworthy beings of this physical world.
If you do not know where to start just think about all that God have granted you grace for. Things like sexual immortally, watching explicit content, being disobedient to your elders, better yet to God's word. If that does not work what have you put before God, have you worshipped or idolized something. It could be money, sex, relationships, famous people, or even your parents. Do some soul searching and look to the Lord and give Him the thanks and the praise for His grace and mercy.

5 Keys To Having A Great Relationship

5 Keys To Having A Great Relationship

A relationship is something that no one on this Earth can avoid, because it is not only for you and a significant other, but a relationship is composed of you and another being. A relationship can be between two persons, whether it's you and another friend, you and your boss or co-worker, you and your parents, you and your significant other, or more importantly you and God. The amazing part about these various types of relationships are the benefits that come with the package including but not limited to: protection, someone to confide in, and some people you can use as networking tools for a better job or position. In order for us to be able to harvest these assets, we must recognize that all great relationships have 5 key characteristics that we all must strive to acquire. 
These 5 traits are essential to our everyday lives and relationships with everyone we encounter, and without these our relationships with others will not reach its full potential, but rather suffer from the lack there of. Because I value them so much, I am going to do my best to list and explain them in full details. However, later on I will break down these 5 key's for each different type of relationship you can possibly have. Now some of these are obvious, but we may take them for granted, others are probably new but can still be used to optimize your relationships. The 5 key's are: Spend time together, respect their space, study your partner, make them a priority, and seek to serve rather than to be served. 

Key #1 Spend time together

I'm starting off with "Spend Time Together" simply because you can not achieve any of the other key's without doing this one first. Spending time together is one of the key's that I was saying is pretty obvious, but many of us to take it for granted. It's easy to lose sight of what it truly means to spend time with another person. It's not as simple as saying "we brushed our teeth together", or " we ate dinner together." Spending time is not doing the minimal, it's going the extra mile, it's taking the extra step. Don't seek to just spend time, or to just be in their presence, but earnestly try to give them your full undivided attention. 
As our relationships age we tend to get away from this characteristic, and allow life's circumstances to get in between the ones we really care about. In actuality we need to do the exact opposite. How can you expect to grow together, or progress if you never spend good quality time? Quality time may look different for different people, but it's all in the same. I encourage you to find something that your partner would really enjoy doing. Do things where distractions are a minimal. Examples may include walks on the beach to enjoy the sunset, having a spontaneous picnic in a secluded area, or going to a paint night. The object is not to spend a lot of money, instead to spend a lot of time. 
Let's look at it this way, the saying "Time is money", it's a powerful quote. It's powerful for this reason only, with money just like time, it either can be wasted or invested. Nobody likes the idea of wasting money, so we should not like the idea of wasting time. So we need to look to always find a way to invest both the extra time and money. When we invest our money we receive a dividend, a profit, some type of monetary compensation, but when we invest our time in our relationships we do not get a monetary gift but instead we receive the benefits that's stated above depending upon the type of relationship. Please remember the benefits are not the most important part, but the fact that you are spending good quality time with them. 

Key #2: Respect Their Space

Being able to respect people's space is really important. Respect for ones space can be taken in different ways. Two come to my mind, and both share it's equal importance to your relationships. The first way to respecting ones space is by giving them the necessary room to be themselves, while the other way is literally respecting their space; like a house, apartment, or office. Let's break these two down.
The first viewpoint will be respecting their need to have time away from you. Yes, it is a little contradicting to the first key, but just remember with all great things there is always great balance. You do not want to make them feel smothered. When they feel this way, they will not want to be around you and will look for every reason not to chill. Since they will not want to hangout and spend quality time, you will lose because you are now growing apart rather than together. Being too clingy will cause regression instead of progression. 
The other way to respect space is to respect their physical space. Not everybody lives by the saying "Mi Casa es Su Casa", keeping this in mind, try to show a great regard to their haven. Prime example: when I'm at work, doing lesson plans or whatever it is I'm doing, I personally do not like it when a co-worker enters my workspace without knocking. It shows a great deal of disrespect and is also dishonoring. Before you just barge in your boss's office, or pop up at your boyfriend or girlfriends house, just be mindful to be considerate of their personal space. 

Key #3: Study Your Partner

The 3rd key to a great relationship will start the newly introduced aspects of obtaining the tremendous connection with the people you desire. We live in a day and age where we are constantly on the go, which is great to stay out of trouble and places we should not be, but sometimes we need to sit back and take a country minute, and learn to observe our partners. In order to be a good companion, or employee we should know the likes and dislikes of the other. Of course anybody can tell if somebody is in a bad mood, but not many people would know what to do. Sometimes we need to respect their space and give them room, other times they need some good quality time. It's not totally your responsibility to know, but how great would it feel for both you and them if you knew what to do with out having to be told what to do. 
As previously stated, when you study your partner, you will grasp a better understanding. You will be able to know when it's time to use either key #1 or key #2. You will mostly never get it right 100% of the time, but do the best you can. Trial and error is always effective, as long as you are analyzing the results of what you have tried and the effects it had on your relationship. For most people when they have a stressful day they would really love some love, affection, and to feel appreciated. While others just need time to relax and unwind. So study to get a feel of who they are, so you can assist them and be there when they need it most. So you can know how to help even when the individual is suffering in silence. 

Key #4: Make Them A Priority

     The other person has to feel important to you, and the only way to do this is making them a priority in your life. Not everybody can have the number one spot, but we can always make everybody feel like they are number one. The illustration can be quite simple, if you are on the phone with your mother, and the love of your life is trying to ring in, what do you do? Do you put your mom on hold, or do you not answer? Which ever you choose, you say that that individual takes priority they are number one.
     Sometimes we make the other person feel inferior, or less important in our lives because we do not make them a priority, or at the very least allow our actions to coincide with our true feelings. Meaning we do really feel like they are number one, maybe a extreme close second, but they do not perceive it that way because of our actions. Sometimes we make the other person feel less respected by paying more attention to social media, by texting people while you are spending quality time, or you could yield to people before you yield to them. All these are ways that we can make people feel lower than they actually should.
The only way to truly know how you treating them is by going back to key #3, you need to make yourself truly sit down and study them. Study how your actions affect their mood, how they feel when you are on or phone, wrapped up on Instagram, or when you talk to others. I can not stress enough that the only way you truly can make them feel like a priority is to study and takes notes of how they interact with different situations. 

Key#5: Seek to Serve, Rather than to be Served

Key #5 is absolutely my favorite out of them all. I know personally going into a relationship it was always what can the person do for me? When I got a job I asked " what will be my benefits, how much am I getting paid?"  But as I matured, I realized that life is not always about me. I have learned that it is truly better to serve than to be served. In our relationships we should always seek to ease the pain of our beloved, or stress of our boss in anyway possible, because when we help others we help ourselves. 
You can definitely tell when this key has been fully been optimized, because you will learn how to serve even in the rough patches of your relationship. No matter how crazy your spouse is, you will seek to serve, because it's showing unconditional love. It tells the other person that, you enjoy quality time with them no matter what. It shows that you will respect their space even when they seem most distant. You will know them better than ever cause you study and analyze them daily. You definitely will make them feel like a priority, a king or queen like everybody deserves. Best of all you will have the greatest relationship with anybody you come in contact with. 

Now you have the 5 key's to having a great relationship. I will definitely be posting ways to use this for the different type of relationships we will have throughout life. Don't just read these share them with others, and put them to practice. Most importantly seek to serve. 

The Purpose of a Prayer Closet

All throughout life we go through talking to many people. Classmates, family, friends and often times many strangers as well. Some we may seek advice or guidance from elders such as parents, pastors or even professors. While will enjoy a casual conversation with someone with hopes of finding romance. Nonetheless we grow and mature to the point where we can dictate the differences in pitches and tone to be able to tell who is calling you from a distance or who you are speaking with on the phone. But when it comes to the living being that matters the most, which is the most high God, we all tend to struggle to recognize His voice and direction. We must set ourselves up, to be available when He sees our efforts. So for the next 6 weeks we are going to fix our hearts on Him.

Week1
       A Prayer Closet
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:6 KJV)

When we go out on our hot dates, or spend the evening with our loved ones we want every second of our time dedicated specifically to and with them. We could go to the movie theatre and completely ignore everybody inside and focus on them. How many times have we seen young couples in public having an intimate moment with each other, kissing and making out, with complete disregard of their surrounding and people walking by? Many people shun their "public display of affection", making rude comments like, "get a room" or "have some respect or class". It's not the gross image of two teens slobbering each other down we need to focus on, but it is the intensity of their focus on one another, that we should take from it. If we as believers could focus on God with out the distractions around us, just like the young couples do, we would be able to set ourselves up to have that special encounter with God.
We as believers need to be better at focusing on the spiritual world and not the physical world. In 2 Corinthians 5:7 its tell us that we walk by faith and not by sight. Keeping that scripture in mind, and going on to verse 8, reveals the magnitude of living in the spiritual sense; and that reason is that, we are not home. We all are striving to that great and marvelous day that we will wake up and be with our one true Father.
However we all simply lack the discipline to avoid the physical world around us, to focus on the spiritual world within us. Jesus understands that our flesh is stronger than our spirit, simply because we naturally feed our flesh more. While understanding this concept Jesus gives his followers and disciples specific direction on what to do while praying.
In Mathew Chapter 6, starting in verse 5 Jesus start teaching on the subject of praying and fasting. He starts off this lesson using the leaders as an example.  He tells us how they pray in front of large crowds, but in doing so they seek to please the crowd using big words, with unnecessary vocal projection. It is one thing to be passionate in prayer, and another just to be entertaining. Many times we put ourselves and our images before the very reason we are sent to pray, which is to be in communion with God to respect and honor God, ask for forgiveness and the ability to forgive, as well as asking for guidance for both our brothers and sisters in Christ and ourselves.
Nonetheless Jesus tells us that they are praying to be seen as "Holy" to go along with their title. They are trying to uplift and live up to their expectations that come with their title, instead of uplifting and living up to God's standards.  Jesus put a notice on this behavior, and gives us a suggestion to correct it.
He instructs us in verse six to go into our closet and shut the door. He is telling us that we need to be totally in-tune, and focused onGod to be able to hear God speak. We need to eliminate the distractions. We must lock ourselves in a room so that only the invited shall enter, which is only God. As we learn to leave the cell phones, computers, children, friends and family out of our communication with God we will only then be able to focus solely on God giving Him our complete undivided attention.  Whether we accept it or not, our God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) He despise the fact that we put others (people or things) before Him. He adores when He is first and He has your complete focus. When we submit and give what He is longing for, we then are inviting Him into our closet, and our hearts.
Only you can determine where your closet will be. It could be an actual closet in your bedroom or house. For some it could be while you are in the bathroom room, taking a shower or handling business. Some people may want to sit peacefully in a garden, on a beach, or even in their car. I have personally done all these at one point or another. The only important part about our closet is that it is a private place that only God can distract you.
After we have gain accustomed to not allowing anybody or anything interfere with our time with God we can then mature to the point to where we can focus on Him wholeheartedly in the midst of the physical world. It wont bother us who is listening to our prayer, it wont matter who is watching, or who you are praying for. You will grasp the idea that is just you and God having a young couples intimate PDA (Public Display of Affection) moment.
I encourage you this week to take time to sit and mediate on God and only God, Daily. Do not ask Him for anything, do not speak. Just sit and dwell on your Lord. Allow your mind to wonder and ponder on who He is to you. Turn your phone off for that time. Lock your door so your siblings, wife, husband, friends or family can not reach you until you want to be reach, but only after your time with God is complete.