Maverick1's Blog

Unconditional love is the way. A wife and husband are best when they are besties. They are at their highest and best when they nurture and trust one another. They don’t seek ownership of one another but allow one another room to grow into their individual highest and best. They aren’t jealous of each other and don’t seek their own. They can approach one another not only with their light but even with their darkness without fear of repercussion or judgement. I love you my Sasha.

Thank you for teaching me how to love and for forgiving me of my many “screw ups”. You’re the only person that I’ve ever shared my deepest fears with and you’ve rewarded me with your love, honor, and trust. You’ve never judged me. I never feel like I have to lie to you in order to avoid your anger or rebuke.

You accept me the way I am and that is the best Christmas gift I can imagine. Your dreams are my dreams and your heart is my home.

Merry Christmas my love. I adore you.

Matthew 8:8 ~ 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

The centurion is one of my heroes. His Faith was so great he even prompted Jesus to let the crowd know how marvelous and pleasing this man’s faith was.

The centurion had the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

He basically was saying whether you will or you won’t Lord, I know you can and all you have to do is say the word and healing takes place.

The centurion was acknowledging his faith in Jesus’ omnipotence and omnipresence. He knew that even there in that location, Jesus was elsewhere too. Jesus was with him and Jesus was with his sick and tormented servant elsewhere.

Jesus is everywhere and in everything. If we humble ourselves as the centurion soldier of high ranking did, have faith, and make our requests known, I am persuaded to believe it pleases God and that miracles can happen.

I desire to have the faith of the centurion soldier. I don’t have it. Lord help my unbelief. I have the faith of a grain of mustard seed and will continue to exercise it. I will ask. I will be unwavering believing I will receive in my due season and even if I don’t receive, I will not bow to fear, judgment and hate.

How can I increase my faith?

Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes from the Word of God. How can they hear without a preacher?

I will keep reading the Word. I will keep listening to The Preacher. I will keep moving forward

Fake it until you make it? I never liked that saying but it’s true. At times, you just have to fake it for a while. Meaning, you may not ”feel” like it or you may not believe it will happen, etc. Example: You don’t feel like going to the gym, but you go ahead and put a smile on your face and tell yourself that you love going to the gym. You’re faking it but once you get there and get started with your workout and those feel food hormones begin to flow, you actually DO feel like working out and are glad you MADE yourself go! Perhaps, you’re not feeling it with your spouse, and the romance and romantic feelings once held are no longer feeling the same or even there at all but you tell yourself “I love my spouse!” Over and over again. (Sasha has to do this a lot concerning me, I’m sure of it.). You even plan a romantic outing with a cute picnic box, wine and bring along some music you both love, and then suddenly the romantic feelings return and are real again. There are times you have to DO IT ANYWAY and wait on the Lord to give you the feelings for things you once loved again.

This happens with relationships, jobs, diets, vocations, etc.

When the feelings aren’t there many of us look for greener pastures only to find out that the grass wasn’t so green on the other side of the fence after the new wears off. New diet. New relationship. New job. New. New. New. New…..ends up being a vicious cycle of highs and lows with no real progress or growth being made.

Never throw the baby out with the bath water.

If you’ve lost that love and feeling, don’t fake it until you make it but rather….

FAITH IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT!

Tell yourself the things you want to have to happen before they happen.
Speak powerfully and positively about yourself and the future.

The anchor. Once while praying in my prayer closet I got caught up in a loop of fear based thoughts. I really let it all out before the mercy seat of God. I shared things I wouldn’t trust any human with. Deep things. Dark things. Terrifying things but The Holy Spirit came and comforted me with three words. “Trust and Anchor”. I knew exactly what was meant and as soon as I found myself saying aloud, “Trust and Anchor” over and over my fears, anxiety, and depression began to dissolve. Just speaking positive and powerful words aloud actually helped me rid myself of the fear. Trusting God’s love and mercy while anchoring to faith. I have to do this many times every day now. Trust and anchor to God’s unflinching love and devotion to me.

Looking forward to this new t-shirt. It’s my life right now. Waiting on the Lord. Repenting. Reading. Praying. Hoping.

The Lord says we live and we live. He says we die and we die.

I can’t do anything without His Holy Spirit and everything is tedious and tasteless without the Holy Spirit’s fellowship. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

My Testimony December 14, 2022

Psalm 119 ~ 1. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Death, hell, fear, the grave, and the works of the flesh are my Lord’s footstool. Therefore they are my footstool too. They can only give me trouble if I allow them to give me trouble. The proper place for them is under my feet, not heavy burdens upon my back.

Get behind me Satan. In Jesus' name.

Death where is thy sting and oh grave where is thy victory?

Ain’t no grave going to hold me down.

It’s time for me to rise up. High time. I’ve punished myself enough. I will anoint myself with the oil of gladness and wash myself with the water of the Word. Tomorrow we attack and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us.

My Testimony, December 13, 2022

Psalm 19:1 ~ The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

There is a reason the Bible says that only a fool can say in their HEART that there is no God.

There is no way to be quiet, look into the night sky all while listening to the ocean and contemplate existence, origins, and your own smallness and come away so arrogant that you can say in the heart that there is no God.

God said, “I AM that I AM” because to say anything more about God’s own self would limit the expansiveness and power of God. One cannot limit the power of God.

The substance that is God is also in everything and everywhere even within us.

We limit ourselves with labels and definitions that limit our peace and joy.

We shouldn’t. If I decrease my self limiting beliefs, the substance of God that is within me can increase.

Negative self talk puts one in a type of hell. Negative self talk is a lack of faith.

The next time you think poorly of yourself, take the time to go out, get quiet, and look into the night sky and know that the substance of God is in everything and even within you.

His name within you is Emmanuel, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace because the substance of God that is within you is the Holy Spirit.

His name is Jesus and His character is love.

Today I will walk in the awesome responsibility of being a child of God by believing in words and works.

Bless the name of the Lord.

My Testimony Thursday, December 8, 2022

The old covenant, the law required death for violating it. If forgiveness could be obtained it would only be obtained through sacrifice.

Today’s unspoken but understood cultural covenant calls for me to acquiesce to the laws and form of godliness or etiquette that is required of me or else I’ll be cancelled.

You can cancel me. You can cancel the way I make my living. You can kick me out of your church. You can cancel all of my social media accounts. You can cancel everything that means anything to me in this world but you

CANNOT

Cancel my name from the Lamb’s Book of Life. It was permanently written there on the day that I gave my heart and life to the Holy Spirit. It’s called the New Covenant.

Flesh and Blood has not made any revelation to me that matters. However, My Father’s Spirit has revealed the one true God to me and I have accepted the one called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. The name I worship is the name of Jesus and His character is one of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance and faith.

My life is established upon this rock and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I’m firmly established in the faith and counted as a son of God with an elder brother that has shown me the way of life. When I go astray, I am reclaimed and my spirit reignited and taken to higher levels.

I am a blessed man.

The world can cancel you for a little while. Your friends and family can cancel you for a little while but at the time of the end….

All believers will be in Jesus and His name will stand alone and above all other names in heaven and in the earth. Every tongue will confess that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Every knee will bow and every ego will be relinquished. The abyss awaits those who never knew love, mercy and forgiveness because of their own choice. The gift of God, eternal life in Jesus is freely given and has to be freely received within the heart. The abyss I believe is a dimension of the worst suffering imaginable and that is a separation from the presence of God, from the presence of agape love. I celebrate that I will not make my home in the abyss and that I will never be separated from the love that I’ve found in Christ. In my Father’s house are many “dimensions” and I will make my heavenly home there, surrounded by eternal love. My peace was not only restored but permanently and eternally enjoyed.

I love the Lord Jesus and am not worthy to even wash His precious feet yet He has made me a king, put a ring on my finger, and promoted me. I will give Him my utmost today. My utmost, is to show those I come in contact with unconditional love. I am free and pray that my life and presence sets those free that I come in contact with today.

My testimony, today, a beautiful Sunday morning, December 4, 2022

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 ~ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

John 18:36 ~

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

On August 21, 2021, I decided to never make another political post. I may have slipped once, lol, but I decided that for me, squabbles and quarrels over politics were a waste of time. This is not my home. I decided it was time to act like I believe and I believe I’m headed to a different country, a peaceful one.

I vote but I keep my political views to myself now. Many of my views didn’t line up with the Word anyway. I found I was becoming as extreme as the next person because I was in an echo chamber only listening to those who agreed with me. In retrospect, I don’t think that’s a good way to learn, grow, or find solutions.

I look back and see the ridiculousness of so many of my past views. I see how they didn’t line up with the Christian values I desire to live up to now.

I listen to what both sides say, trying to understand the arguments of both sides so I can make a more informed decision but I still try to keep my views to myself except for one…

One hundred years from now, one thousand years from now, or an infinite number of years from now the only election that matters is the one where…..

I made my peace, calling and election sure by placing my faith in the person and spirit of Christ, my Jesus.

My earthly Dad once told me to never discuss politics or religion. I should have listened.

And No, I don’t consider talking about the love of Christ to be religion. I consider it to be life giving and life sustaining.

Christ is the only hope for this world’s peace.

Every tongue will confess and every knee bow now or later.

I choose now.

If you don’t fall on the rock and become broken, the rock will fall on you and ground you to powder.

I bow and confess this day that Jesus is the only begotten son of God.

And in my spirit, I hear His Spirit say,

“You are Travis in whom I’m well pleased. Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my Spirit has and upon this rock, I will build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against you.”

I’m taking back what was stolen from me and you can too.

My Testimony, November 14, 2022.

I don’t get mad. I get even. ~ anonymous

I don’t get mad (except at myself) and I don’t try and get even. If I do get mad, I examine myself and quickly realize my contribution to the problem.

Jesus didn’t try to get even. In fact, Jesus did the opposite. He showed unmerited mercy and grace. If He would have tried to get even with me, I’d be in a world of trouble cause I’ve been a mess for the last 30 years.

Increasingly, I'm trying to imitate Christ in Spirit. I fall short early and often each day but He’s the one I try to model.
I’m not sure where I’d be if it weren’t for the Spirit of Christ.

Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self control, and faith is evidence of the Spirit of Christ. Also known as the Holy Spirit.

Much bad is said about Christ and much mockery takes place but really one is mocking love and against peace when mocking Jesus. There is no law against and nothing that can be said bad about the character attributes listed above. I desire to continue going through the refiner's fire to be more like Jesus.

Unfortunately, the works of the flesh are evident in my life too and it often diminishes my light.

I hope some people see the effects of Christ in my life and continue to be patient with me as I increasingly try to walk in His Holy Spirit more and deny the works and lust of my flesh.

Too often I have the evil spirits of self judgement, judgement of others, guilt, regret, and shame directing my actions which exacerbate the works of the flesh.

Best said I hope you find fruit on my tree but my fruit still has a lot of worms in it. Please eat around the spoil.
At least I’m not a Bradford pear tree. It looks beautiful to the eye but it never bears any fruit.

Lord help me to bear good fruit and to walk in your Holy Spirit more as to deny the works of my flesh.
Until the time of the end.

One day I will be absent from this body and wretched man that I am and eternally in the blissful presence of the Lord.

For now, to live is Christ

But later

To die is gain.

Absent from the body and in the presence of the Lord.

For now, to redeem the time and share His love with all I meet.

My life forever changed on August 21, 2021 ~ The day I accepted grace and stopped judging

My Testimony, Monday, November 13, 2022.

Lately, I’ve been hearing about new and seemingly miracle weight loss drugs. Lots of people who want to lose weight say they are waiting on these drugs. That way they can eat whatever the want, lose weight and keep it off.

Those drugs are coming. Yet, not without terrible and potentially life ending consequences.

But I digress.

Who wouldn’t want such drugs that promise miracle weight loss?

I’ll tell you one person who will never take drugs for something that can be addressed by simply becoming a more self disciplined person………..
ME
It isn’t just the weight loss that I have benefited from by changing my lifestyle and by trying to walk a closer walk with Christ.

I lost 44 pounds in 6 weeks by changing my lifestyle and went on to lose more than 100 pounds and eliminate many prescription medications.

Again, that (weight loss) wasn’t even the primary benefit. By allowing Christ to increase in my life while I decreased, I actually became more disciplined and more able to tackle life’s problems in all areas of my life.

Even if drugs had a sustainable effect on weight loss without complications, aren’t we seeing the effects of a society that lacks self discipline and aren’t we seeing what happens within our culture when we look for instant gratification and quick fixes without repentance and walking in the Spirit.

I don’t rely on drugs for my healing. I don’t rely on Shibboleth. I don’t rely on weight watchers or any other plan. Those are tools and technologies that might help some but the real change comes when we surrender all to Jesus and realize that He alone is the miracle we seek for whatever problems are in our lives.

We help people lose weight. We support people while the lose weight yet never take the emphasis off of a self disciplined walk with Jesus. That’s not going to be many people’s thing but those are the people that we are here to serve. We are here to serve brothers and sisters that want more than a life of indulgence and who only want weight loss.

We are Shibboleth. The name itself is a meaningless overlooked name because we want no emphasis on anything but on Jesus and His Holy Spirit.

If you are different and looking for a different solution, we are here for you.

For myself; I won’t take drugs for something I can handle myself through effort and personal change. The world can have their drugs for weight loss. I’ll take a heavy dose of The New Wine.

Warmest regards,
~ Travis