Da Word... 201! Motive

HEY!!!!   It's been a loooong time!  Talk about hiatus!  Wow.  The last month and a half I was a straight tool potnas.  I was pullin' maaaaaaaaaaaaaaad hours at work. But now, that's all done!  WOOOHOOO!   And Da Word... is back! 

checkit:

All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord.

- Proverbs 16:2

Motive baby!  It's AAAALL about motive. Your motive determines perspective and can be the difference between something taken as genuine or taken as straight malicious and selfish.  Motive is EVERYTHING.  Ever stop to wonder how everything we want to do or try to do tend to align towards seeming innocent? 

Yo, our powers of persuasion and rationalization are potent!  We can make anything seem genuine and altruistic.  It might take a few rounds of rationalization, but we'll get there.  And BOOM!  Low and behooooold.... our ways seem innocent to us. 

But potnas... we can't hide our true motives from Pops above!   I mean yeah we can pull the wool over almost any fellow human's eyes... even our own!  But trying to pull a fast one on Pops?  .....HAH!  That's a good one, had me straight rollin' for a good minute there.  Not gonna happen bruthaz and sistaz.  Pops will see through everything and straight to the heart of the matter. 

And yo, Pops himself will weigh your motives by its true measure!  That's kind of heavy!  So why try to pull a fast one on Pops just to sucker some poor fellow human or our very selves?  Especially when Pops will just see it as such plainly?  Because along with powers of persuasion, we have this CRAZY imagination, hah hah.  We can't do it; our motives are plain before God.  And you know what?  Our motives are sometimes even plain before our fellow bruthaz and sistaz! 

So what's the point of this proverb?   The point is this, let our motives be true and genuine and therefore blessed by Pops.  And as a result, our ways will indeed be innocent, success will line the paths we walk, and people all around will reap blessings as it overflows.  

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.  PeACE!

G-bless,

  - patrick

Da Word... 200! Fruit is Madlicious!

What's uuup!  How was the weekend?  I hope it was fulfilling and straight chill.  I got to meet quite a few peeps.  But the best was Bourne Ultimatum!  Oh yeah, this movie was awesome!  Aight, on to... da Word!

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Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

- John da Baptist (Matthew 3:8)

Yo da Baptist did not play!  He came out with it... straight!  In this passage, John (Jesus' cousin) was doing his thing preparing the way for Christ.  He was baptizing and calling peeps to repent.  In other words, he was tellin' peeps to make a 180, to turn from their current ways and make a B-line for the way that is right and true.  No shenanigans, no backstabbin', no frontin', none o' that stuff.  Why?  Cuz da kingdom of heaven is fast approachin'.

So, in rolls these Pharisees and Sadducees.  John stops in his tracks and lays the verbal smack down, starting off with, "You brood of vipers!"  Wow, that's HARSH!  But that's what they were!  Slithering and sneaky pious types sinking their fangs into helpless peeps, allowing their poison to do its work.  So John called them out... and what!  Then, he dropped the line above.  Yes potnas, that there is bonafide truth.  We gots to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

When we repent, we decide to turn from the ways that were not leading to life.  We turn from selfishness and self praise to humility and serving. And let's not forget to bonafide love.  But if our repentance is true, we WILL produce fruit in keeping with that about face!  Yeah, it just follows suit potnas.  Just as a tree produces fruit in season, so must we.  If we ain't producing, then something is wrong, and we are flirting with disaster.  The fruit we produce are many: love, kindness, humility, serving, compassion, strength, confidence, direction.... the list goes on and on.  Pops himself will bless you to produce fruit that is straight potent and oozing with spiritual essence.  Don't you want some o' that?  Awww YEAH!

Produce fruit brutahz and sistaz, cuz in truth, if we are rollin' with Pops, we can't help BUT produce it! It is all naturaaaal!  And it benefits all around us, including ourselves.