You're Not Too Far Gone: A Letter TO Myself & YOU

This is a message to myself.

It's a reminder of the knowledge and wisdom I've gathered so far that I'm sharing with you.

It's lengthy, so bear with me.

I Need to be Honest with Myself

Stop merely going through the motions and remaining on auto pilot. You understood that this was something you were doing last year, but haven’t made the amount of change you wanted to make in this area.

• You’re lazy.

  
  

• You still procrastinate.

  
  

• You compromise with yourself and sin, making excuses.

  
  

• You still waste time knowing that you don’t have time to waste.

Which could be because you still don’t know how to do the things you KNOW YOU SHOULD DO. You still prioritize rest over work, like you were owed rest just because you did something. You’re not being as intentional or as proactive with yourself and other areas in your life.

• You still lack discipline and patience.

  
  

• You have no structure.

Not overcoming these is delaying your greatness. This is not saying that you haven’t made progress. This is not saying that the effort that you made, put in or small changes that you do see were in vain or are not worth celebrating.

PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK for recognizing the areas you need to improve and making efforts, no matter how small. This is better than most, because some are on auto pilot without knowing and some know that they are, but just don’t desire to change who they are or their circumstances or their lifestyle. Even though you may not see the changes or the changes are minimum, 1% is always better than 0%. 1 step forward is better than 0 steps taking.

God gave you a mission and a purpose to fulfill on earth for his kingdom and to serve.

He gave you a body/soul, heart/mind, spirit to do so. He gave you a choice; to choose and/or accept the mission and purpose through FREE WILL.

You have a calling on your life. A potential to reach and/or exceed. A purpose to fulfill. This has been confirmed through friends, family, strangers, and through what you think may be the Spirit. You VISIBLY CAN SEE A VISION of the woman you're being called to be. This can only happen when you operate and are moving in alignment with Yahweh. Through your obedience, faith, trust, and confidence in Him and you accomplishing your God given purpose.

Choosing Him - His Way is Not Easy.

I say this for two main reasons:

1. It causes you to change your nature

2. You must be ok with being set apart.

Don't fear being alone! Many people are afraid of solitude and going against the crowd. But when it's time to be judged, YOU WILL BE BY YOURSELF. Be the one who is set apart, who travels a different path than the rest. This path can be lonely at times but is well worth it, especially since you're never truly alone. You may not have human companionship 24/7, but you will have a deeper relationship with our Father, whose companionship, presence, and love is truly amazing and the best thing you can have.

It's a Journey, not a Sprint.

Change doesn't happen overnight. Be patient with yourself. When the time is right, Yahweh will bring people into your life to join you on your journey and offer support. By standing your ground and holding true to the boundaries you've set in place, to avoid compromising your relationship with our Father, you can be the light or inspiration someone else may need to break free and live righteously.

Again, give yourself a pat on the back.

So many of us are walking on unseen territories. And we have to figure out how to devote our lives to our Father and follow in Yeshua’s footsteps.

I understand

you don’t know what you’re doing.

I understand

no one around you is a good role model or actively living out the will of God or fully on fire for Him.

I understand

you are a product of your environment and may be stuck there for a season, but don’t allow that be an excuse or a barrier.

You will mess up.

You will fall short.

You will sometimes cave into the world.

I hate to admit that. But it's the truth. It's never easy to do the Right Thing because we are going against our own identity and character, even our heart. For example, if all your life you've been selfish and only thought about “I,” then THAT is what you're fighting when you decide to change and become selfless and think about others.

It's easy to remain in the same old vessel.

It's easy to stay stuck.

It's easy to do the things you're used to doing.

It's easy to only think of yourself, your wants, your needs, and your desires.

It’s easy, BUT nothing easy will ever challenge you as a person or child of God. We know the character change that's provided and the identity given to us by God is what's best for us and His kingdom. That's why it's heartbreaking when we fight our inner self because we know that, but not visibly seeing that is hard to make it happen. Use that anger and frustration towards yourself to motivate you to get up and make a change. You may not be lazy, just unmotivated. That’s why building a relationship with Yahweh, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit is necessary. WE NEED HIM to show and teach us, allowing Him to show us how He did it by giving the Holy Spirit full control.

I can guarantee, you’ve thought,

“I can’t understand why I can’t obey even though I wanted to. Why can't I just entirely give in, even though I want to? Why do I know better but don't do better?”

This message should help. It's hard, but we’ll be just fine. We’re In Good hands. Everything we need Yahweh(God) provides for us. Strength, peace, calmness, stillness, joy, rest, fulfillment and more. Yahweh's gifts and blessing you with these things, not the world, people, or yourself. Surround yourself around people who is going to help one another stay away from a sinful lifestyle. It's okay if you’ve lived sinfully for so long. Yeshua(Jesus) rescued us and made the ability to transform and walk away from sin possible.

The Good News From the Gospel is...

that Yeshua(Jesus) is the Word of God who became flesh, He is the Son of God, the second person of the Triune God. He is the only one who is a perfect subsitutary sacrifice for sinners. Because as God, he is without sin. And as a man, he could take on sin, paying a debt we could never get close to paying. He suffered the wrath of God that we deserve so that we might be forgiven and receive eternal life and be saved. He died for our sins. Yeshua suffered and died on our behalf. He made payment for our sins. His resurrection is our receipt that God (Yahweh) accepted Yeshua's payment for our sins. These are essential truths of the gospel. Through Yeshua's sacrifice, all those who place their faith in Him are forgiving of their sins, reconciled to Yahweh, adopted as his children, and received eternal life.

Your past does not disqualify you to serve or be useful. Paul once fought against the Church of God, but by the grace, the unmerited favor and blessing, of God, God bore fruit in his life, which was not in vain. This is because Paul understands and appreciated God's grace through Yeshua's sacrifice which inspired his labor and love. This appreciation for grace should be what empowers and motivates us for service. The resurrection is essetenial. Our salvation depends on the truth that Yeshua HaMashiach is the sinless son of God. Whose death paid for our sins in whom Yahweh accepted by Raising him from the grave.

Adam disobeyed God and brought both spiritual and physical death into the world. However, through the second Adam, Yeshua (Jeusus), we have a chance of internal life through his resurrection. When Yeshua returns, those who belong to Yeshua will receive new bodies. Once done, He will hand over the kingdom to Yahweh and abolish all of His enemies, including death, putting everything under his feet.

Let me dive deeper into it.

Yahweh spoke a mission to your soul when placing it into your body as a child and servant of His. He has breathed His spirit into your body. Yeshua succeeded in buying your body. He took the wrath of Yahweh from your sins. He freed you from death from your earthly corrupted nature and from shame, guilt, sadness, chaos, and etc. He bought you with His blood and body, with His sacrifice Yahweh can return His face to you. He can use you. You are saved and connected with Yahweh. You are or your body is a vessel for the Holy Spirit to dwell in and a slave or servant that is devoted to serve and be useful out of thanks and love. This doesn’t mean to abuse His sacrifice or to constantly disrespect Him by using His Sacrifice as an excuse or justification for your sin. Genuine repentance comes with doing your best not to repeat the sin you asked forgiveness for. The word of God is full of all types of lessons and guidelines for life. It helps us understand His morals, values, and principles that He uses to create a solid firm foundation to help keep us grounded in Him and His son. It feels more meaningful and intimate when you learn about God; from Him, His Son, and His Spirit.

I think that the beginning stages of following in Yeshua’s footsteps are hard and I think it's only hard in the beginning because that's when we are allowing Yahweh to change us. Our thoughts/mentality and our hearts. Two main things that drives us to do the things that we do today are our minds and our hearts. So it's hard because we are constantly fighting them. We are trying to turn away from our own ways of doing things before we devoted our lives and time to our Father. We're fighting our flesh and old ways, but I think once God has fully established His kingdom ways and His character/nature into us, realigning our minds and hearts with His, it won't be as hard anymore. Yielding to His Spirit in every way, then I think eventually, it'll be second nature to do God’s will with ease. At least that's my prayer.

It’s a spirit vs flesh battle. Once we can consistently starve/deny our flesh, I don't think we'd have such a difficult time with obeying. So, I guess I'm saying the transition is hard and difficult, but once you are advanced in your faith, more spiritual mature, it may become easier. But that timing isn't the same for everyone. And I think the devil just tries to enhance our desire and wants that's already there, to keep us in our fleshly state. He makes it look even more good and nice which makes us go to it even more. Now it's just a thought, but maybe once we obtained the information of good and evil, thats when we started to fight ourselves and the devil just tells us that we’re right. I could go deeper into that but I tend to go too deep in my “maybes” which may not be okay sometimes. We have to be careful with thinking too deeply on things

Getting Back Up

Now that you know or been reminded; Get back up and do better this time.

Forgive yourself. Repent with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength, say sorry and ask for His forgiveness. Ask for Him to engrave His ways and His laws into your heart. To change your heart and your thoughts in order to better walk in your faith with him. Ask Him to place your feet firmly onto His path and to not allow you to fall. Ask for clarity and understanding. The Holy Spirit will guide you. Use godly wisdom. Some people can do things that other people can't afford to do and that's okay. Everyone may not be convicted of the same thing. ( This is not saying you can pick and chose which laws to follow). Just be aware and you'll be fine. If you feel convicted then that's the Holy Spirit telling you no, don't do that. Don't listen to what man deems to be bad based off their interpretation of God's word. He said “lead not on your own understanding” so others can help you but they can't really give you your answer . They can only give you their interpretation or perspective. Like this message. Always go to God.

Being a Light

The best way to bring people to the light is by being a reflection of it

Matthew 5:14-16 (AMP)

¹⁴ “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven."You are the light of the world... let your light shine before others"

You'll be surprised of how much impact it actually makes. You turning your life around, you changing your mindset, you not doing certain things to avoid temptation. People around you pay more attention then you think. Sometimes a change that you did for your walk with God will create a small little “hmm” moment for others. They find themselves pondering over the changes or actions that you’re doing to better your life. It may not have an overall greater effect in the moment, but overtime each change you do that they realize is changing their mindset and is motivating them to change. I'd say this one thing, just keep being the light in the darkness. God will and can use your light to help provide hope, inspiration, conviction or change in others.

Walking in Fellowship

Enjoy fellowship with Yahweh by walking in the light. 1 john 1:1-10

1 John 1:7-9 (AMP)

⁷ but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]. ⁸ If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.] ⁹ If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].

God himself is light. Ask Yahweh to instruct and show you how to enter into a relationship with Him through faith in His son Yeshua. Ask Yahweh to help you to stay in your word so that the truth of His word can be applied to your life to enhance your Your fellowship and spiritual intimacy with Him. Yahweh is your source of joy and peace, so it never runs out. Ask Yahweh to bring His personal presence and activity into your life. To help you embrace the truth that He is light. Living in His light will expose your sinful nature, revealing your thoughts, attitudes, speech, and actions that are inconsistent with His character.

Let your fellowship with Yahweh be validated by your walk. Let your intimacy with Yahweh be demonstrated through your actions. Allow His light to expose your sins and provide His Spirit to enable you to see them so that you can repent & change. When you repent, the blood of His Son cleanses you so that you grow in sanctification, spiritual maturity, and intimacy with Him. Ask Yahweh to allow the blood of His son to activate; to reveal, cleanse, and empower you to address the sins That has been exposed. May you live and practice the truth of the gospel so that your fellowship with Yahweh is maintained and expanded. Continuously allow Jesus to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, everything not in conformity to Yahweh's will; purpose, thought, and actions.

Let the divine message be in your heart.

Yahweh, is a good God. He will not force you, unless He needs to.

You can choose His path or the enemies(or the world). He will never leave you in darkness, so he will also keep reaching out for your hand to save you, if you choose the path of the enemy(or the world), either intentionally or unintentionally. From what I know, he is slow to anger; and will be patience with you for as long as He is willing. Because from my understanding , He detests sin, but loves you. You need to know your choices have consequences. People say “ these were the cards I was delt” Or something similar, but understand that some things we go through, God didn’t intend for us to go through. Our own disobedience, complacency, negligence, and sinful actions causes most or few of our troubles. The enemy can see that and choose to enhance what we already sowed for his benefit. Do your best not to let this happen.

You can’t serve two masters.

Matthew 6:24 (AMP)

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].

The same way you can’t be both on fire for the Lord and Cold (hearted) to him.

Revelation 3:16 (AMP)

So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust].

Do your best not to be lukewarm or fully cold and walk the path of the enemy. Find your way to acknowledge that you need Yahweh as a vital need and necessity. Learn how to lean on, rely on, trust in, be confident in, revere(respect) and worshipfully fear Him. You can’t do this by yourself. You can’t reach His level of potential for your life without Him. You can’t handle the shaking, beating, and pressure of this world without His (& His Son and His Spirit's) help, assistance and intervention. When you go through life; trails and tribulations, try not to say “why me” or “ this isn’t fair”. Some of the shaking, beating, and pressure is what God is using to forge you. To develop you. To give you skills, talents, wisdom, and fellowship, which is needed for you to accomplish your mission ( or calling ), spread to other fellow believers, be inspiration for others, or past down what you learned to your bloodline to help and assist them. It can be a way to break you, so that once you have been delivered, you can remember how being in that state of brokenness felt to motivate you not to revert back. To understand how far you came and see the changes that were made.

YOU'RE NOT PERFECT, BUT YOU CAN STILL BE USED.

I don’t think God expect or require perfection from us. If we were perfect, we might not seek His help, guidance or love. We'd risk becoming prideful and conceited. He's already used many imperfect people to make a huge impact on His people and kingdom. What He desires is our love, trust, our best efforts, our first fruits, our spiritual growth, and our alignment with Him. He wants us to develop deep intimacy and closeness with Him.

Planting Seeds for Tomorrow

Your present self must plant the seeds for your future self to water & grow.

Ephesians 5:15-17  (AMP)

¹⁵ Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], ^16 [a]making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is.

Your future self can only work with what your present self has already cultivated or initiated. The potential for hope, excitement, and growth in the future can motivate your present self to strive for that higher level. However, when you become too fixated on the future and its possibilities, you might forget to start producing those seeds, forging the skills, building the systems, and laying the foundation that your future self needs to make that vision a reality. You can envision how great the future could be and what it might offer, but simply reaching a future date doesn't automatically make your vision come true. Work on yourself, and the fruit you produce will naturally flow towards others. For instance, cultivating healthy habits like mindful eating and preparing nutritious meals at home not only enhances your well-being but also sets a positive example for your future family and inspire those around you to do the same.. These habits become ingrained in your lifestyle, creating a lasting impact that extends far beyond your individual journey.

In essence, the key to realizing your future potential lies in the deliberate actions you take today. Create a strong foundation for your future self to build upon.

Written 09/07/2024

---

These reflections are rooted in Scripture. If you'd like to dive deeper into the biblical foundation for each concept, I've created a study companion with full references that you can explore in Gracewell Curiosity University (Curio U). Once the university (my personal curriculum) is published I will update this post with the link.

What is Curio U ?

A note: This letter started out for me, and then I began to think in a generalized way. So yes, this letter is for me, but maybe you can benefit from it too. If any wording or message is wrong in this post, please feel free to contact me, helping me understand what may have been wrong or could be taken out of context or may be destructive for the babes. Please, all I ask is that you do so with love and grace. I don't mind coming together with a fellow brother or sister to correct me where I may have been wrong or misspoke.

Contact me