(this is a small clip from a larger project my son put together one time at a cool junkyard we found as we travel, made for a cool background)
Preface
Everyone faces varying degrees of problems. The world hits us from the outside and turmoil from within. Sometimes we feel pain that we cannot identify. Distractions often serve as our outlet of escape. We find ways to resolve problems out of our own human capacity. But when we are hit by something that threatens to crush us, we either go down for the 10 count or contemplate: “Does God exist or care about me? Could I truly get Him to help me?”
The answer is in our own hands; “Are we willing to dismantle the very castle of self-pride we ourselves build?” Can we change from “I already know all that” to “Please God. If you’re there, will you help me?”. Tragically, many find that they’ve so hardened their heart they don’t know how to do that; to be personal with God.
The question is never if God cares, but if you have the heart-stuff of humility to go His way? Can you silence the past-self and bring forth a you that is true and real? God does not commune in audible sounds and visible movements. I present to you Faith – the ‘little fight left’ in each person (Mt.17:20).
Do you remember when you were a kid trying to figure out what life was all about? (Beyond chocolate and Christmas.) Was life good or bad? Happy or not? Over years, we see that life tries to push us down, like a cruel ruler demanding we bow at its feet, to whatever bad things it dishes out. We build a backstory of hurt, pain, and need that causes a bad, cynical attitude. I describe in the video clip (above) how, when I was 14 yrs. old. I was shot in the eye and laid in a hospital bed, patches on both eyes. It took away everything that mattered. Life was trying to ruin me.
I was forced to lie still on my back, alone in silence and sadness. For two years, I could do almost nothing. Everything that had once given my life meaning was gone. Yet in that lowest place, with the little strength I had left, I fought, while I was bleeding, not knowing what I was building. All I had left was my choice to believe God. I never knew then that learning to be still was the doorway to my future. In that dark place of a wounded self, I discovered a calm that did not come from me. An insecure kid found security in a silent trust of God. This is how we approach God.
God is a faithful and loving Father, beckoning us to allow Him to shape our character. Four years later, He brought Jesus into my life, followed by my salvation. I didn’t understand it then, but I trust that even the saddest chain of events can carry meaning when we surrender to Him in the circumstances. In hindsight, God’s work becomes visible to those who are set on Him, especially in their darkest hours (2 Chronicles 16:9).
The question we must each answer: “Do I settle for the dictates of a miserable life, complaining like everyone else, or will I fight to take away more from my life than it has taken away from me?” My friend, don’t let your mind be passive to this wicked world. Breaking is not understood by an emotional reaction but by an intelligent evaluation in the silence of God’s light. I pray, in reading this blog, that “the perceptions of your mind might be enlightened… so you might know the immeasurable greatness of God’s power” (Eph. 1: 18-19).
Sad to say, negativity is the core of our frail mentality, because we all share and live in the same sinful humanity. Negativity arises from within us in all forms, imaginations, and times (2 Cor.10:3-5). It creates an identity of a typical grumbler and complainer. It is a dark lens that covers our eyes, assisted by depression as a natural deep sigh (2 Cor. 4:3-4,3:16/Ps.51:5). At times, happiness can seem like a fantasy because pessimism holds us down as a default anchor of dread. The brain remains a passive organ. There is no self-generating principle of positivity. Scientist say that of the 70k thoughts we have each day, most of them are negative.
Dissociation is a psychological response in which the mind temporarily disconnects from your real backstory of sad thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, or surroundings to cope with past trauma. It is the synopsis of why we develop a phony and trite image. It is not a deliberate effort to be deceptive, but an outcome of not knowing how to process our pain. It requires an assertive attitude to exchange moods and feelings for intelligent and analytical responses, and learn to apply faith in God despite the negativity.
Jesus and Paul reveal a fight is required against our very self, not to fix the past, but to “forget” to ourselves, so His Spirit can lead us into a destiny of a new you (Mt.16: 24/Jn.12:25/2 Cor.5:17/ Rm.7:15-25/Gal.2:20).
Look around. Listen. We’re not alone; all creation “speaks” in agreement with our conscience (Like the end of that little video clip at the beginning Rm.1:20,10:18/ Ps.19:1). “Behold! God is good. His living Presence is greater than all negativity. Redemption awaits.” Everything is a choice. What we once decided was impossible can not only become possible, but certain, if we choose the ‘the little fight left’ in us for truth. God yearns to process our pain. By the work of Son He can transform old brains paths into an entirely new perspective. Neuroplasticity is a scientific term that describes the brain’s physiological capacity to recover and rewire itself. The process begins by a mere budge against the negative part of ourselves and towards the hope for what God promises to those who believe (Heb.11:1-6/Rm.4).
The Little Fight
Howdy, my friend. I don’t know what brought you to my blog, but I welcome you in and ask for the same objective consideration you might give any stranger. We live in a world where love is rare, people condemn and don’t listen or care much about others. I, too, share this primary nature of selfishness. These days, there are two opposing groups that dominate the cultural scene and somehow sneak into our psyche with a false narrative that we only have two choices. But both ‘the left’ and ‘the right’ are blinded to the 3rd option Jesus offers. The “Right” see themselves as religious and claim morality makes them the ethical elite. The “Left” campaign as a democratic fusion of free thinkers. Neither understands that the “gospel” is neither legalism nor license. It is God’s gift as a practical absolute remedy for all the miseries of the common ‘John Doe’.
Simply put, God offers to send His Spirit to enter our weak, selfish flesh of humanity, regardless of any individual wicked ways. By His supernatural love, God promises to put Christ in us to lead us beyond our conflict into His grace. No matter how bad or how many times we fail and fall, God offers His Spirit for new life. The question is what are we willing to choose REAL over FAKE? The Father knows His ways are not our ways so He offers, not a patent upgrade but an individual process for our deepest pain with “His own love” (Rm.5:8/1 Jn.4). COST? One little fight; a mustard seed of faith (Mt.17:20).
Ever think the Incarnation holds a real answer?
Ever hear of the Incarnation? It was the one-time event when God came to earth as a human in Jesus (Jn.1). Ya. Jesus left the imprint of God. Today, Jesus offers to put His Spirit into our sinful humanity, made possible by His work. In His death, Jesus became our ‘worst nightmare’ (2 Cor.5:21). In His resurrection, Jesus became “the first-born among many brethren (us)” (Rm. 8:29/Rev. 1:5/1 Cor. 15:22). He now offers it directly to us. Not through a group, system, or “church”. From Him to you. No middleman. Jesus promises His Holy Spirit will come into you to give you His love so you can give to others; i.e. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col.1:27).
That’s why I’ll never belong to any modern group or religion. Today’s “church” is not the true church of the Book of Acts but a one-hour counterfeit of old religious, self-righteous and condemning ways leftover from previous cultures. Jesus says you can’t put fresh wine into old containers or they’ll burst (Mk. 2:22). Those who walk in the living Jesus, walk in the living Incarnation and offer the world fresh new ways learned in the wind of His Spirit (John.3:8/Matt.16:18-19).
So, back to “Hi. My name is Michael Woroniecki and I love my Father God in the truest sense for giving me this gift of abundant life” (Jn.10:10). I ask that you see me, not as ‘somebody’ telling you what you should or shouldn’t do, but as sincere friend, a fellow human caught in the fight of our lives. If it’s cool with you I’d put my arm on your shoulder and just be with you. I’m not, or ever could be, “a hell-fire brimstone preacher” nor a part of any religious system or cultic crap. I am a son, alive with the resurrection of the living Jesus. Paul says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels”. My body is dying, but my spirit lives forever (Jn.12:25).
People have reason to constantly grumble and complain about all the immense personal problems. I get it. But why not be willing to consider the alternative in the Scriptures if it is real? The whole Adam and Eve thing makes a tons of sense if you think about it. It is not a fantasy or childhood fable that they corrupted the human race by sin. They are our true ancestors. What they were in their humanity is in us today. But what’s so beautiful is that Paul explains, just as the 1st Adam put a thing called “sin” in our humanity, making us selfish, proud, anxious, depressed, hateful etc. etc., so too the 2nd Adam- Christ -offers to put His risen Spirit in our flesh; joy, peace, hope, etc. etc. (Read Rm.5:12-21).
God knows, we don’t even understand what is going on inside us. So He designed this plan to free and inform us by His Spirit in His Word. Knowing the identity as a son or daughter is the ultimate happiness (Jn.18:36/2 Cor.6:14-18). It is in that place of still silence where we hear His voice that is unheard by this busy world.
For the last fifty years, my family and I have enjoyed explaining this “born again” gift of Jesus as we have traveled throughout the U.S. and 60 countries. Whether we are on the streets with one or two or on a stage with many – the gospel works. It is our privilege and divine blessing to share this gospel.
Part of understanding the gospel is to understand the problem. I think you’ll agree that we live in a dark world. You’ve probably felt it yourself, a kind of dim shadow in the air. A weight in your chest, a gulp of anxiety, a half-smile. What is this feeling? A vague sense of badness ‘in the air’ (Eph. 2:2). Jesus defines Himself as “the Light of the world” and sin as the darkness that prevents us from “seeing” His light. It affects how we think, talk, and act. This all sounds vague until we begin to focus on Jesus and begin to “see” His Light.
This happens immediately when we enter the place of humility. When we whisper within “I don’t know You God, but I want to”. Christ becomes our atonement and give us His forgiveness and grace to deal with, not only, our inner turmoil, but also our daily practical burdens.
God deals with our sin as a “wound”, showing us, not hate or rejection, but His understanding. He knows in was not our fault so God did everything about it. Contrary to false preachers, Jesus does not see us in wrath or demand a morality that we cannot produce. All that is necessary is the little fight we have left in us to admit our sin and seek God’s truth. As a Father He is waiting to process each problem we face, in Christ, no matter how evil or complicated (Jn.3:16-17, Jn.8/Mark 2:17/ Mt.9:13/ Jer. 6:14, 8:11, 10:19,14:17,30:12-15).
Even Jesus publicly displayed in living color the process required to heal our wound. His blood is the balm of healing to cover every imaginable darkness on earth. Every corner where drugs are sold, every subway where murder takes place, every marriage where divorce is threatened, every household where rage or desperation rules, Jesus offers healing. His call to ‘pick up and carry our cross’ is so we can apply His ‘medicine’ to process our wound ( Lk.9:23).
OUR FIGHT – WON – AT THE CROSS- (1 Cor.1:18/Gal.2:20/Rm.6:6)
The fight Jesus ensued with the cross seems irrelevant to our modern-day existence, but it is the crux of getting beyond our hidden pain to live a meaningful life. In order to climb the hill of calvary, Jesus had to fight every muscle screaming in pain, every bone about to break, every desperate thought, and human inclination to quit and rebel. He knew He was the only One caught in this event, in time and space, Who could process every dark pain known to mankind. He fought sin, then became it (2 Cor.5:21). He resisted death, then destroyed it. He felt the full evil of our primary nature that conspires against His Father, then created another. What a Brother. What a Savior. What a King.
As Jesus hung He fought His title fight. From His side trickled blood and water, when a Roman spear pierced His lungs. His “Little Fight Left” was enough to make it up to Calvary into a tomb and up from the dead. This little fight is ours to tap; sufficient to conquer our every battle on earth. His greatest victory was in His greatest weakness. In Christ, we win every fight before we begin. Our little fight is born of His title fight was from death to resurrection life (Eph.6:12/2 Cor. 10:3-5). His victory is ours when it comes to abide within us.
The Father yearns to come alongside, not by osmosis or a magic wand, but in Jesus to respond to our every need. He appeals to us in the mechanism of conscience, the image of God. Conscience is mentioned over 20x in the Bible. It beckons us, “Defy the darkness-believe God- allow light in your heart” (Rm.2:15/9:1). God calls you as an individual. He calls you by name (Is.43). Hear His whisper: “You do not choose Me but I choose you” (Jn.15:16). Awaken your fight to ignite not extinguish the spark within, to free the wind to lift you, to train your fight to win in Him.
The cross is the purge of our pride. It is the boxing ring of real. It is where and how our caterpillar breaks into a butterfly. It is in our death to self that we let Christ live within. Jesus tells us to let go of our natural thinking. In that moment, Jesus says ‘Come to Me…Enter new ways I will show you’ (Mt.11:27/Jn.12:24-25/ 2 Cor.5:17/1 Cor.15:45).
Paul, who lived long after Jesus but centered on, and entered into, life beyond the cross. He saw the fight it would take that was worth his life (Gal.2:20/ Rm.6:6/ Phil.3). Letting go of our first impulse allows God to quicken conversion. We become “born… again” (Jn.3:3). A stream of love takes over our circumstances and leadsus into His “living water” (Jn.7:37). When we touch His love, we touch others. It is not token Bible cliches. Divine Presence is in-the-moment, on-the-spot love, born of the heart, fresh and aromatic for each individual.
This is God’s love; never one-size-fits-all. It is not to fix people, but to see them. To be in their moment. This is the living Jesus.
Humility comes from forgetting self. It is our catalyst for connection.
THE LITTLE FIGHT WINS ANY FIGHT – Over five decades I’ve worked to help others understand how Jesus brings His Spirit into our backstory of unprocessed pain. There are various specific things that you’ve gone through that left scars and hurts in your soul. They affect your daily existence to this very day. They impact how you talk and think and what you do. Paul explains how his sin exploits our pain and actually turns us against ourselves (Rm.7:15). We are fighting a battle we cannot win unless we understand how. Instead of shame, the fight of faith rises to believe the size of a mustard seed (Mt.17:20). At the end of his life, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight of faith”. Paul was a lonely man who fought battles we can’t imagine. Yet he knew the secret to process everything alone in Christ. The work of Jesus in His life, death, and resurrection is eternal and sufficient to process every pain, every sin, to heal our backstory and start over again.
Seven billion people worldwide are hurting and don’t understand why. I refuse to turn my back on them when Jesus gave His back for everyone’s sin; “By His wounds we are healed”. These days we work overseas in the 3rd world; on the streets, with the military, troubled high schools, convalescent homes, hospitals, special needs, and with veterans and others. Being fluent in Portuguese, French, and especially Spanish enables us to carry a special burden for our brethren who speak these languages, both overseas and those misplaced immigrants in the States, when we come back to resupply. So far from home, they suffer great isolation and rejection. It is not a fight of politics but compassion. It is the miracle love of Jesus in us.
My friend, please, begin to see your life like a boxing match. Open your struggles to God’s loving discipline to train you to put on the gloves. Enter the ring. Fight the Good Fight. Heaven or hell. The devil is real. He tries to influence our thought process with a bitterness towards a God Who only responds to faith (1 Peter 5:8). Change your mind. Create new brain paths. It’s not too late. Defy the negative. Create the positive. His mercy comes quickly in our weaknesses. No one is beyond hope. No one. Talk to God in shallow whispers. It is the little fight left in you.
God is love. So when you don’t know what to do, start by believing He loves you.
Teach yourself to interpret your daily challenges as tools -not to destroy you– but train you to transform your story. Practice the little fight of mustard seed faith. Come on, my friend. Let the light of His Word enter your dark battle. It’s time. People need what only you can give. It’s a blessing not a bummer.
Your inner rhythm is waiting for release and fulfillment in the living Jesus. It is in doubt that you built faith; it is in weakness that you find strength. Any little fight begins the process. It’s like finding an old bank account you forgot that contains a small fortune. It’s the champion in you waiting to dominate “the ring” of your mind (Rm.12:2).
In High School, I made All-City as a wrestler and a fullback. I then won a scholarship at CMU. The awards created a brain path in this young man that working hard at my fight ended in fulfillment. Little did I know, but soon began to learn, it trained me for a battle I was about to enter. When I gave my life to Jesus I realized my past life was meant to train me for a greater identity. My fight awakened. God’s image in me was restored. I had a will, a choice, a decision. Can you recall a ‘first fight’ in your life when God tried to awaken your power to fight? Maybe you didn’t respond as you now see you should have but that’s ok. You can re-filter and redefine things in a new light.
The term “broken fighter” does not imply failure but strength and wisdom. The ego is smashed. Real becomes real. In my journey, severe rejection by the football team brought about a season of excruciating humiliation, but it was then that a seed within me broke open. My phony image died. My buddies flipped against me at my identity with one word: the Name – JESUS. I realized the same guys, who only days earlier were my party bro’s, now hated me. It had nothing to do with me- but the Name Jesus. John 15:25 became my cornerstone: “THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A REASON…YOU ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD”. Why would anyone reject someone who stands for Jesus? My choice is to forgive and love them: “they know not what they do”. Jesus says if we don’t forgive, we won’t be forgiven. Holding on to the past prevents a future. The human psyche cannot grasp the illogical hatred launched against Jesus, so I was forced to grasp the mentality of Scriptures. Persecution was the very thing that trained me. It was the speed bag. I learned my rhythm in the wind of the Spirit (John 3:8). Like a raven riding the currents, I learned to dance in the transformation that happens by comprehension Jesus is real.
“I don’t write this blog because I got it all together but because I don’t. I am clay molded by the Potter, and I love you, man.”
I never forget what broke me because I now see it as the sacred process where the death of my ego yielded eternal life. I sometimes whisper to myself, “I don’t care about the difficulty of any struggle. I have eternal life. What else matters?” The pull and push of sin, by self-pride and self-pity, can seem as an unending battle. But it releases Christ in us as we believe. A mere budge, a turn, a lift of our eyes creates chain-linked thoughts to become new.
Anyone can become more than they are by believing “I will yet win again…and again…and again ”. Failure does not have to fling us back but forward to His side. No matter how bad we fail, any movement forward brings us into His little fight. We rise because He is risen.
All the negativity you feel inside has long been crucified with Christ- Not counting our sins against us. (Gal.2:20/2 Cor.5:19).
In our little fight we gain the one thing we all secretly long for: that PERSONAL rescue. To hear God call your name. Right now as you read this, take a deep breath. Say nothing. Feel nothing. Believe. He loves YOU as is.
BELOW: Maybe you see me as your enemy, and I can become your friend.
So I’d like to ask anyone hostile to me: “Why choose evil?”. Ya, I know. It’s easy. But not really. It makes life “hell”. I mean, really. If darkness and hatred is negative – choose light. Cynicism breeds death. Love breeds life. Right? Lies are depressing. Truth is edifying. Evil makes no sense. Righteousness increases intelligence. It’s not about me or this web sight or any issue. It’s about you and hurt, pain, and loneliness.
I understand, feelings can be a downer. One moment you’re up, the next you’re in the Pitts. Sometimes you feel like wearing a shirt that says, “Don’t See Me”. In a world of heartless existence, you just want to be alone. A guy told me once, “Every day it seems something else is against me. Sometimes I feel like if I walk too loud it might awaken another problem?”. I get it, man. It’s tough to put yourself “out there” and live.
But you can never find fulfillment in seclusion. Our entire composition is not created to melt away like wax in a candle or exist in a kind of suspended animation, but to know the life-giving force of God’s love. At first you may ask, “How would I get any of that stuff? I’m wicked.” That’s the first step. Honesty. God really is speaking to you to tap your inner fight and begin to dare to find a new combination of thoughts of hope. There’s another identity than the garbage backstory the world hit you with. The Holy Spirit comes to anyone, anywhere, any time. He knows our dirt and took it all on. He can generate a new stream of brain paths so Christ can eventually be born in you. But be real.
Maybe you don’t have anyone who cares or understands you. Maybe everybody looks down on you. I know. It hurts. (Rm.2:14-16/1 Cor.4:5). It’s why the Incarnation was God’s plan: to bring Christ to you. The living Jesus really offers living revelation beyond your primary self. Forgetting about yourself is not a drag. No matter how little faith you can muster, it only takes a “mustard seed” to become more than we are when we began (Mt.17:20/Rm.8:37). None of us can attain, earn, or deserve God’s mercy, but just a little fight of humble will gets you His great reward.