What We REALLY Mean!

*What We Say vs. What We Really Mean*

God I want your will. Please have YOUR way . . What we really mean -----> As long as it won't upset my routine and is what I want! See that box over there God? I would really appreciate it if you go get in it and STAY in it. Other than that, I worship You, trust You, give you ALL the praise.

Haven't seen you in awhile. Where have you been!? . . What we really mean -----> I haven't seen you in church in several Sundays. You'll never become as HOLY as me if you don't come to church.

I put Jesus first in every single thing I do . . What we really mean -----> I try to put the Lord first, but sometimes MY desires overcome my desire to please Him. I'm also human. I sometimes lose focus and act wordly vs. what I know is in my heart. I act like anything but a believer.

We need to pray for ________ (you tell this to 20 people) . . What we really mean -----> I'm going to gossip about them, but disguise it as a 'prayer chain' and as genuine concern.

I don't really have enough money to tithe. If I give 10-15 %, I won't be able to pay my bills . . What we really mean -----> I have enough to get by, but I TRULY don't want to have to become totally dependent on this God I supposedly/allegedly TRUST so much!!

I am SELF-MADE . . What we really mean -----> I have become my own idoL. I have replaced God on the throne in my heart. I make my own provision . . . I don't need God. Why trust the Lord when I know if I trust ONLY myself; I don't have to worry about anyone failing to come through for me. What a FOOLISH man I am. The enemy (satan) has deceived me into believing I am responsible for my own success. I can't even control the origin (my body) as I don't get to decide when I die or if I even have my next heartbeat.

Everyone is welcome in my church . . What we really mean -----> As long as you are the same race as me (all races: black, white, Asian, Latina etc. are guilty of treating people of a different race differently) dress the way I do, have the same sexual orientation, don't have tattoos, piercings and are someone I'm comfortable being around. Oh, you can't be an ex-convict, divorced or have any addictions of any kind. You may make some of my holiness go away or cause my halo to rust.

Visitors are welcome. We are SO happy to have you . . What we really mean -----> No one is going to even speak to you much less make you feel welcomed. You will feel shunned, not accepted, and won't want to come back. You'll think, 'Now, I remember why I quit going to church to begin with!'


I trust you God . . What we really mean -----> I trust You when everything is hunky-dory . . when things are going my way and nothing bad is happening in my life. I trust You UNTIL tragedy strikes. I trust You until one little thing goes wrong. I trust You until You allow something to happen that I, and after all my opinion is the only one that matters, don't feel is necessary, don't appreciate and don't understand. I trust you until (fill in the blank).

I want to thank the man upstairs for waking me up . . wanna thank Him for another day! . . What we really mean -----> I refer to Him as the 'man' because I want to be able to wrap my puny brain around an Entity (God) who is infinitely bigger than anything I can even come up with. I want to put Him on my level. See, I want God to be BIG enough to handle my problems, rescue me when I need Him, but small enough where He doesn't intrude on what I want to do, how I act, the attitude I have and how I treat people. Or we say man upstairs, because rap music and even country has infiltrated our boundaries and robbed us of the reverence and fear we once had for an UNSURPASSABLE, BEAUTIFUL, AWESOME, ALL-POWERFUL, ALL-SUFFICIENT God!! That or maybe we just want to say the 'happening' thing. Well hate to break it to you, but there is nothing MORE exciting, REAL, relevant, cool, tight, dope or 'happening' than His name. Capitalize it (what if Jesus was having a LAZY day and didn't FEEL like dying on the cross for us?!? Revere it. . love it . . believe in it . HIS name is WAY past wonderfuL!

I tweet and post on Facebook all the things I'm doing and all of my success. I retweet all the great things people say about me and my success-- never mentioning Jesus, the Lord, God, how blessed I am etc. Never or rarely giving Him the glory, instead keeping it as my own. . . What we really mean -----> I am a FOOL. Sadly enough, I may call myself a Christian, and may truly love Christ, but the devil has me believing 'I' am responsible for my own success, that I earned it. I share Christian thoughts, Bible verses and pearls of wisdom God has given me, but I don't attribute any of them to Him. Unintentionally, or intentionally, when we don't credit the source . . . we are being DISOBEDIENT even if what we share is a result of being obedient and/or a talent He has given us. The same goes for doing good things for people . . when we take the credit for it or promote all the things we are doing for people, we are not doing them with the right motives, need to do a self-evaluation and let God check our hearts! For the Christians, who share what God is doing in your lives, that's wonderful. That is encouraged and what He wants us to do, but when we share with others our gifts/blessings ($$, events, family, career achievements) and don't give Him the glory we turn ourselves into idols . . our blessings into idols.

Let's say what we mean and mean what we say and let BOTH of them pleasing to our Lord God, Savior and King!