MY IDENTITY

That I rock Gucci,
Wear Prada, and show up in Loui Vuitton,
That I rock Ralph Lauren,
Wear Versace, and show up in Steve Madden,
That I roll in Bentleys, cruise in Porsches,
And pull up in Rose Royces and push Lamborghinis,
That I eat specially made foods, dine and wine with A-listers,
The ballers, the pros, the big boys, those that matter from the world's perspective,
Does not mean I'm the clothes I wear, the cars I drive, the food I eat, the wine I drink,
Neither am I defined by the cash in my flash, or by those I roll with,
So who am I and what's my identity? 

My identity cannot be found in vanity,
My sense of who and what I'm worth cannot be seen in artificiality,
But who I am, if I'm anything, what I am, if I'm anything is found in Jesus Christ,
For I am nothing but a wretched, hopeless sinner who was saved by divine mercy and grace,
Scooped out of the dust by He who gave up His life and took my place,
So I live to glorify He who saved me by by His blood, I live to seek His face,
I don't let the standard of this world; the figures, the stats, and the charts,
Define my sense of who I'm worth, my only true worth and identity is found in Christ alone,
For if my satisfaction and identity comes from Gucci, Prada, Lui Vuitton and the designers series,
Then I am lost,
If my joy is based on that which is earthly and material,
Then I have missed my true purpose,
So though I like to look good, I realize that my image and beauty can only come from Jesus Christ.
He is my identity.

WHERE DO YOU STAND?

In his 2009 album, the Blueprint 3, American rapper Jay Z on the song Forever Young ft Mr. Hudson, was quoted as saying, "Slamming Bentley doors, hopping out of Porsches, popping out on Forbes' list..." Also, in the song Can't Shut Us Down by Cross Movement's Christian rapper, Sho Baraka featuring Lecrae, Lecrae was heard saying, "I'll do this till the day I take my last breath..." In case you are wondering and asking, why this comparison? Well, today as I reflected on a couple of things, prompted by what I had seen online about a very popular pop artist's open declaration of her beliefs, the question that came to my heart was, WHERE DO YOU STAND? Folks, we live in a world with a variety of belief systems, we are constantly bombarded by different notions and people's perspectives and views on life. And truth is, in the midst of all these, it is easy to lose grip on what your beliefs are, and on where you stand and why. This is one of the problems with our generation: most of us no longer have a mind of our own, we are becoming more like clones, accepting and believing whatever we hear on the radio or CD or see on the T.V.

Furthermore, back to my references earlier. Now I know that Jay Z has been criticized by many for so many reasons. Lecrae himself regardless of the fact that he is a Christian artist, has been recently criticized by some for some reasons. But one thing that I see in both artists, at least from their public declarations, is that they are sure of what they believe, whether you agree with them or not. In this world, some are clear on what they believe, what they want, and where they stand. For them it's all about fame, fast money, fast cars, fast life, girls, glamor, flash and cash. For many others it is God, Christ, righteousness, holiness, salvation and making it to heaven while taking others with them. One group lives for themselves but the other group lives for God. But what bothers me is the others who don't even know where they stand. They are neither hot nor cold, they are just in between; accepting, believing and rolling with everything that comes their way. That's what bothers me the most. Because at the end of this life, when we all stand before God, it's not going be a question of what your favorite artist believed, or even what your pastor, mother, father or anyone else you love believed, but what you believed. So I end with this question, WHERE DO YOU STAND?
Remember these quotes, "we shall all give account of our lives" and "the world only follows a man who knows where he is going."
I'd like to hear from you. Share with me some of your very core beliefs in life and why you have these beliefs. 

IDOLS IN OUR HEART II

He(she) is the biggest star on the planet,
He(she) has a huge bank account, he rolls in money,
The flash, the cash, the endorsements, the fame. the fortune, he(she) has it all; lives life on a fast lane,
And he(she) looks good too; but problem is, he doesn't care about me, who I am or whether I live or die,
He(she) only cares if I listen to his(her) music, if I'm a fan, he(she) is all about his(her) money, the increase of his(her) fame and fortune,
Yet he(she) is the one I adore, the one I listen to, even when I know he's(she's) on a wrong path and his(her) views are twisted,
So I have exalted him(her) above everything else-
Idols in my heart,


Such is the generation we live in,
Where we have exalted idols in our heart above,
The God who cares for us and gave His only begotten in love,
We chase after the lies, the fallacies, the vanities, the emptiness,
The fashion, the fame, the pop culture, the" in- vogues", and all that is of negligible significance,
We run from the truth, the word; that which tells us to quit evil and unrighteousness,
To love God and hate sin, has suddenly become that which ticks and pricks our ears, making us uncomfortable,
So we call Christians conservatives, uptight folks and the likes, we say things like "I'm not really into God and religion",
Not that we don't know the truth, but we have chosen to ignore it and believe the lie,
Idols in our heart,
May God help us change our ways, may the scales fall off our eyes that we see clearly the deception that we now live and accept as the truth. 

IDOLS IN OUR HEART

They are the stars we adore,
The celebrities we scream for,
The cars we desire,
The flash and cash we crave,
The vanities and the emptiness we chase after,
They are the things we exalt above the one who has created all,
Idols in our heart,

We live in a generation filled with so many teachers,
In a world saturated with so many different ways,
Our society is constantly jostled by varying opinions of what is right or wrong,
So we turn to the T.V set, turn on the radio, pop in the latest album everyone is talking about,
And we listen with rapt attention, with desire, with adoration of the artists, of the actors, of their songs, and of their lifestyles,
So my generation have suddenly become clones, lacking a mind of their own,
If my favorite star says it's right, then I accept it without thinking about it,
Well, how do you expect me to have a mind of my own when I don't even know what I believe or don't believe or what philosophies I live by,
I don't have any standards at all, no values, so I go with everything that comes, I believe and accept everything,
Idols in my heart...
TO BE CONTINUED...