Shodan Mondo
What is your relationship with God?
He is my telephone. I talk and he listens. He talks and I listen. My relationship with God is similar. I talk to God through prayer and I listen to God speak through my readings of a daily devotional, through sermons, daily life events and the teachings of Jesus. He is my counselor, my sustainer; he lives with me in my heart and never leaves. He understands me better than I understand myself. God knows what makes me tick, what energizes me, what fatigues me, what makes me sick, and what makes me operate at my best. I trust him to help me.
Often whenever I’m out doing a boundary survey in the rural remote regions of Kentucky, I’ll met one of the adjoining landowners and they’ll always asked me where’s help, because they believe you should never be along out there in those woods with all the snakes (they all seem to have stories about the copperheads and rattle snakes) and with whatever and whomever you may encounter. Over the years spending time in the woods with God, I know God is good and he wants nothing but good for me, he has a plan, so I only think of peace, hear sounds of nature, and neither of evil nor fear. I am not alone nor anxious. Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you”
Other times at a day’s end, I find myself tired of packing the surveying instrument on my back up, over, and across steep hills through steams, gullies, barriers, and thorn bushes hoping to get that that last control point sighted so I can call it a day. Not an easy task to sight a small prism through a narrow opening about 1,500 feet away in heavy foliage. Typically what happens is you can’t find the prism, so you’ll have walk back to the control point and either raise or lower the prism pole and repeat the process until you sight on the prism from the survey instrument (Total Station). After repeating this process about three times without any luck and at this point I’m dog-tired, thirsty and hungry. Then I looked up and remembered the Bible verse in Psalms 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God” and at that point I was able to sight the prism and end the day.
What could you do to improve the relationship?
I could spend more time reading and meditating on what I read in God’s word. I do realize in reading God’s Word I will know what God thinks and says about things and not what the world thinks or says about things. I need to improve my spiritual integrity. – 1) Develop knowledge of God’s word, 2) be consistent in prayer and devotional life, 3) be quickest to forgive and to ask forgiveness, 4) be a spiritual thermostat
Just as two key elements to success in Kempo are time and training, the key to living, breathing spiritual integrity is having spiritual commitment tested over and over again.
I believe God puts my spiritual commitment into play over and over to reveal what’s there. He has given me real-life opportunities to develop a practical consistency, and my goal is to choose God consistently under pressure and develop spiritual integrity. Chronicles 29:17 “I know, my God, that you test the heart is pleased with integrity”
Recently I read in the book “The Daniel Plan“how God’s power works in developing spiritual growth, it’s a result from the relationship and cooperation with God. We work out while God works in us, not to gain salvation, but to grow and develop a new life with God to fulfill his purpose. God has part and I have a part. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by your grace you have been saved, though faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast”
What would you like God to do to improve the relationship?
I would guess the typically response would be nothing because we don’t think we have the right to ask. Most forks would say “we’ll take whatever the Good Lord will give us”. As Christians we know he provides us with comfort, confidence, takes away our worries through prayer and in his great mercy has given us a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ of eternal life. Never-the-less the best why for me to answer this question is my daily prayers, because I believe our relationship is improve through prayer.
At night, I pray for peace on earth and goodwill to men let the wrong fail and what is right prevail, watch over my family, my marriage, and my children. I pray for wisdom, love, and forgiveness. I pray to always see obstacles in my life as an opportunity because perseverance under pressures pleases God. Perseverance is like that extra set of reps, that extra sprint, or that extra set of sit-ups that will actually make us stronger the next time we put our bodies to the test. For example, that extra visit to the dojo. I don’t think God is looking for perfection; He’s looking for perseverance. James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trail, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him”.
Don’t give up the pursuit. Hang in there. Just like the song I recently hear “the joy in God gives me strength“
In the movie the Last Samurai with Tom Cruise there is a scene called “the rain fight clip” where Tom Cruise (Algren) is challenged by one of the samurai (Matsumoto), Tom refuses to give up fight, resolve to keep standing and not submit, beaten and exhausted but somehow finds the strength to face his adversary.
God can improve our relationship by keeping me standing (like Algren) so I can prove my worthiness and always find the strength to face the adversaries of life, because I want to be there to see the destiny of my children and my grandchildren revealed.
God can help me reach his benchmarks by helping me understand the full height, breadth, and depth of God’s definition of sin. Instead of wondering how far can one go and still be called a Christian I must understand how holy can I be.
