Becoming Desensitized: one pleasureful experience after another

Desensitized: To render insensitive or less sensitive. To make emotionally insensitive or unresponsive. Numb, weakened, anesthetize, watered down, or dull. Have you ever experienced something to the point where it became boring to you? I myself gain satisfaction from learning new information and concepts. I have come to the realization that the more you are exposed to something then the more desensitized you can become. When someone views sex as a recreational activity how does this impact their level of sensitivity towards the true concept of intimacy? When someone has been exposed sexually to multiple partners then their level of sensitivity becomes mutated (impacted). The climax that someone experiences when they try their first drug is a climax that they continue to seek after. They fail to realize that the 10th experience will never be the same as the 1st experience. The 12th sexual experience will never be the same as your 1st sexual experience. The 7th kiss will never be the same as the 1st kiss. The 3rd person that you fall in love with will never be the same as the 1st love that you experience. The first experience is always the original experience and everything that comes after that experience will never be considered the original. Many people are seeking to re-live an original experience. Multiple sexual experiences will never equate to the original experience. You can only lose your virginity once. How many pleasureful experiences do you have to experience before you realize that lust is like a black hole that can never be filled and just continues to grow exponentially? Lust is like a parasite that is fueled by your curiosity. This parasite eats away at your youth, your morality, your character, and your life force. Over my life there have been many things that I have been desensitized to. Have you ever experienced an original experience that transformed your life? In 2003 I experienced the original presence of God as I arose out of the water from being baptized in his name. When will you allow yourself to experience this original experience?

Chemicals of Seduction: the embracing of atmospheres

Seduction: The act of seducing. Something that seduces or has the qualities to seduce; an enticement. The act of influencing by exciting hope or desire. We live in a world where images are used to influence behavior. Many times we may experience what we see and then feel disappointed, because we do not feel that what we experienced measured up to our expectation(s) of what was seen. How can something which is pleasing to your eyes still leave you with a feeling of emptiness? Just because something is pleasing to the eye does not mean that it is pleasing to the heart and the mind. It is so easy to become seduced when you are unaware of the chemicals of seduction. In order for seduction to be activated there must be certain factors (chemicals) in motion. Time, attraction, and familiarity are three of the chemicals which once they are infused (mixed) together can create an atmosphere which is conducive to the outcome of seduction. Ignorance and naivete are two ingredients which can not prevent this outcome of seduction; it only intensifies the results. Many men are capable of seducing women in order to fulfill their animalistic(inferior) urges, which gives them but a moment of gratification. Serial killers have been known to seduce their victims. Pornography is known for seducing millions of people per year which in turn desensitizes them to what true romance really is. Seduction can lead to death, both physically and spiritually. In order for someone to be seduced there must first be a seducer. There is a force which seeks to seduce your heart and your mind in order to paralyze your destiny. God is the only force that I personally know of that can suppress and eradicate any spirit of seduction. Will you allow yourself to be paralyzed by the venom and vapors of seduction or will you allow God total access into your atmosphere?

Navigating a Slave Ship: enslaved by the cargo of your mind

Enslaved: To put into slavery; make a slave of. To dominate; subjugate. Bind, capture, chain, reduce, restrain, restrict, incarcerate, suppress, yoke, or deprive. If your mind was an example of a ship who would you say is the captain of that ship? Who or what navigates your mind through the unstable waters of life? A ship can be labeled (identified) by the type of cargo (load) that it is carrying. If a ship is carrying slaves then it can be called a slave ship. Every ship has a captain so that the ship can be directed (navigated) . Some cargo can be either dead or alive. No matter whether the cargo is dead or alive the captain is still responsible for the cargo. Sometimes we allow the thoughts (cargo) of our mind to navigate us through life. These thoughts can be an example of dead (no life) cargo. How can dead cargo navigate a ship? What influence(s) can cause our thoughts to become dead? We should always remain cognizant of how our thoughts are being influenced. Thoughts of lust, unforgiveness, and confusion do not bring (add to) life but rather extract (take away) from true life. These are thoughts of bondage. A slave is submissive (inferior, subservient) to a specified person or influence. What influence(s) is your mind submissive to? A captain can cause a ship to go off course and to be trapped. So many minds are trapped and off course because they were navigated by the wrong captain. I tried to navigate my way through this life before and I came to many dead ends. It is hard to navigate a ship when darkness is always in the midst. My thoughts of darkness were hindering my progress in life. The captain of the ship of my mind was the wind (atmosphere, influence) of darkness. I eventually came to the realization that only God could guide the ship of my mind through these murky waters called life. Is the captain of your mind causing your ship(mind) to be a ship of slavery(bondage) or a ship of freedom?

Pouring Precious Fluid Into A Broken Vessel

Precious: Of high cost or worth; valuable. Highly esteemed; cherished. Expensive, costly, exquisite, fine, adored, and priceless. Have you ever poured your time , energy, and creativity into something, only for the results to be less than desirable? Parents try to pour morals into their children, teachers seek to pour knowledge into their students, artists seek to pour creativity into their art work, and spouses seek to pour love into one another. What do you do when the vessel that you are pouring into has been broken (damaged) by the circumstances of life? Does an investor continue to invest in stock that has lost its value and there are no signs of recovery? Should the teacher stop teaching? should the artist stop painting? should the investor stop investing? How much precious fluid (i.e. time, energy, love) should be wasted before someone stops pouring into the fractured vessel? As I sit here I wonder to myself if the precious fluid is ever able to repair the broken vessel. Can the wine in a wine bottle repair a damaged bottle? I personally do not have the power to repair the broken vessel of someones heart or mind. I do understand though that when the vessel of my mind was fractured through the experiences of life there was a substance that repaired the ruptured areas. I allowed the fluid (substance) of God's atmosphere to begin the repairing process. The substance of God's atmosphere superimposed (encapsulated) the vessel of my mind and began to restore the areas that had been damaged through the circumstances of life. I just want to encourage you to realize that the quality of the substance of your vessel (i.e. heart, mind) is only as strong as the atmosphere that your vessel is linked to. Allow the vessel of your heart and mind to be positioned correctly in the right atmosphere (surrounding influence(s)), so that God's precious fluid can flow through the walls of your vessel unrestrained.

Trying to build a relationship on a fractured foundation

Build: To make something by combining materials or parts. To increase or strengthen by adding gradually to. Assemble, compose, form, frame, make, or construct. As I came up with this topic I was thinking about the relationship between me and my father. From the beginning of my childhood, life's circumstances has caused the foundation of relationship with me and my father to be fractured (damaged). As I sit here I find myself thinking how can someone repair a foundation once something has already been established on that foundation? When a skyscraper has been built can you just repair (reconstruct) the foundation without affecting the building? There are relationships in our life that if we could start over again we would change the foundation. There are critical ingredients that go into building a solid foundation in order to sustain what is built on top of that foundation. Quality time is one of these critical ingredients. A recipe (i.e. relationship) can have all of the right ingredients but if the timing is off then this can change the quality of that recipe. The recipe of relationship must be mixed with the ingredient of quality time in order to remain stable. I understand that once certain recipes have been made you can not go back and take out what has already been mixed. Can you extract sugar out of a glass of tea once it has already been mixed (intermingled) into the tea? Can you extract tea out of a glass of water once the tea from the bag has already mixed (infused, saturated) into the water? There are certain things that once they are mixed become part of the molecular structure of the substance that it was mixed with. As I end , I would admonish(urge) you to concentrate your mind and your heart on God because he can uproot any foundation and repair that which has been damaged. I am a witness of how the hands of God repaired the foundation of my life that was damaged by a polluted heart and mind. If God can repair a broken life and destiny than he can repair a broken relationship.

When Lustful Thoughts Encapsulate Your Mind: how do you escape?

Encapsulate: Surround completely. To enclose, capture, compress, encase, condense, cover, or wrap. As a teenager I found myself exposed to very graphic material. My mind and eyes had never been exposed to these images (pornographic) . I never realized how powerful the images were until I tried to keep them out of my mind. It seemed as though it was easier for me to think about the images than it was to ignore/forget about them. It seemed easier to be comfortable with the images than to disregard the images. These images were changing my perspective toward women and also my image of the role of a man. I never told anyone about the habits that I was forming from viewing these images but I began to play out these images in my lifestyle. I found myself seeking to fulfill the images of pleasure that engulfed my mind. I minimized(devalued) relationships because of these images which tainted my mind. In April of 2003 when I gave my life to God I still had struggles and I had to come to the realization that I can not escape this bondage under my own power, and that I needed a greater force to deliver me. I had to make a decision to transform the atmosphere of my mind which made it easy for me to entertain these thoughts of inferiority (destruction) . When a prisoner is in bondage they need someone with a key to loose their chains/shackles. I realized that only God had the key that I needed. Only when I became uncomfortable with my tainted mindset is when I began to seek a way out. Are you uncomfortable in your thought life? I had been struggling under my own power for a while and just continued to fail. I just want to encourage you to seek God because his source of power never fails no matter what situation you find yourself encapsulated in.

Detaching Yourself, in order to gain a clearer perspective

Detach: To separate or unfasten; disconnect. To remove from association or union with something. Uninvolved, isolated, uncaring, loose, unaffectionate. If you had a habit that was killing you would you detach yourself from that habit? Sometimes our mind and our heart are detached and not on one accord. We can think one thing with our mind but our heart is focused on doing something else. Sometimes we must detach ourselves from certain relationships which bring certain atmospheres. How do you detach a heart that yearns for a connection? How do you detach an ear that yearns to hear a special voice? I have come to the realization that we must allow the presence of God to be what our heart yearns for. We must also allow the voice of God to be the voice that our ears desire to hear. It is hard to attach to God when you do not set aside time for him. Sometimes people may feel that detaching can do more harm than good, which is why we may choose to stay attached to something even though we are not at peace. If a doctor were to surgically remove someones toe or leg this would cause their mobility to be affected. There is a doctor though that can detach (separate) you from whatever is causing you to be out of God's will, without allowing you to be harmed in the process. God has a spiritual prescription which can offset the side affects of being detached. As a patient in the hospital lies on the bed waiting to be operated on; will you allow yourself to be positioned so that God can operate on your situation? If we could operate on ourselves then there would be no need for physicians; so allow this surgeon to detach (remove) the issue so that you can gain a clearer perspective on life.