Breaking Free from the Need of Praise!

John spoke of Jesus in chapter 12 verses 42-43 saying:

"Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."

When one is addicted to the praise of men they refuse to stand for the truth when it brings disapproval of others. The thoughts of someone not liking them is more than they can bear, even if the person is wrong and can do a world of deadly harm to them and/or others.

Some sort of rejection is often at the root of those who find themselves addicted to men, even rejection as a small child that they never processed properly. Roots of rejection need an ax laid to the root, as rejection defects them from become who they are truly mean to be.

The praise of men swings from the hinges of fear.

In John 7:13 John was recording the story of Jesus saying:
"Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews."

And again in chapter 9 verse 22,
"These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue."

People who are looking for the praise of men never stand boldly with any man for truth. They are wishy washy. They are for you before your face and then before the next face they are against you ... after all they must gain the approval and praise of every one they are with, and yet really have the approval and praise of none.

Lack of integrity holds no place of praise or honor.

There is nothing wrong with praise. Praise is a powerful tool when handled properly. Praise is a great builder of strength and defeats many an adversary ... but the want of praise is an entirely different story.

If you must have the praise of men to validate yourself as good or worthy, you have broken self esteem, relying on others for approval at any cost. The praise of men become a kind of rush for you, much like a drug addict awaiting their next fix. But just like a drug, the high is temporal and will wear off.

When the next fix doesn't come, those who seek praise become irritable and dissatisfied with life. At this point they being to seek approval just as the drug addict would seek to find their next drug. A person who is addicted to praise tries to cook praise up like the next batch of Meth.

They may go to a person and hint for words of praise (this may be conscious or unconscious). They will say things like "How do you like my new suit?"
"How does my make up look today?"
They find ways to communicate with a person that brews up personal praise.

Those addicted to men also have a hard time saying NO. Because of this they can find themselves in troubled relationship and many uncomfortable situations. And this only deepens the lack of self esteem. Inside they feel worse about themselves every time they come to the end of one of these relationships or places.

Praise addiction
becomes a roller coaster life of emotional high's and low's!

Someone once said:

People who are addicted to praise will take what they can get. They’ll eat up the lip service and flattery as though it was a wholesome meal when all they’re getting is empty calories.

They gobble it up, and within seconds they’re hungry for more. This process repeats itself, depleting self-esteem, and alienating friends. It can go so far as to where even the well of flattery dries up and all they’re left with is a sense of growing silence from those around them.

People addicted to the praise of men
often find at life's end they are alone and still wanting.

Build self esteem ... it is imperative for a full and healthy life!

Instead of looking for the praise of men, begin to find out who you really are. Go deeper into the truth of God's Word to find YOU. And when you do ... begin to find out how you like your eggs instead of ordering them the way the person with you orders theirs.

Make a choice decision that you are going to change,
and then like a drug addict begin to detox.

You will do this by removing yourself from being the target of the praise of men, and putting yourself in daily devotionals, and prayerful meditations of truth concerning yourself.


Each time you are feeling the need for such praise you will refrain yourself from all the hints that would brew your fix. When you buy a new suit ask yourself ... while looking in the mirror, "Do I like this? Am I happy with the way it looks?" Do the same with your hairstyle, or any other choices that you make.

Find what makes you happy and explore those areas to see if it is really to your liking. Don't just go somewhere or do something that others impose because you believe it will gain praise and approval.

Don't violate your conscience to please someone else ... take a first step toward saying NO. The first No is often the hardest, but your self esteem will grow when you are true to yourself and your own beliefs.

Be happy with your own accomplishments, don't wait for someone else to approve them. People's opinions vary. And critics come out to speak the worst of everyone and everything.

Martha Thatcher once said: "If my critics saw me walking over the Thames, they would say it was because I could not swim."

You can not build your esteem upon others opinions. Esteem is build upon truth. And truth will set you free.

Jesus our Lord and Savior, came as an expression of truth. He knew who He was and He did not compromise it for praise. Amazingly however, at the end of his earth journey, the praise He has gained is that of more than any man has ever or will ever obtain!

He was the Word made flesh. He was truth walking. He was all God and all man. And He gave us the ability to enter our best life through the blood he shed on Calvary. He made a way for us to enter into the very truths He walked. Truth that Free.

He liberated us to be our powerful, wonderful praiseworthy selves, not co dependent praise addicted, mask wearing, imitations. Christians need no crutch in life.

Many believe Christians week and dependent. But they err. True Christians (Anointed to be Christ like) are relational and powerful. They know more who they are, than any other breed of people. They walk in truth!

• They are not men pleasers, nor approval addicts.
• They know their God and who they are in Him, and they do valiantly.
• They recognize that God lives within them and they are godlike.
• The are mighty in Spirit and Truth.
• They need not anyone approve them, for they are already approved in the beloved.

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. ~ John 14:6

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ~ John 8:32

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. ~ John 8:36

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. ~ John 17:17

If you are ready to break free of the need of praise ... there is a way. Why not make the choice today to be free.

One becomes a Christian by faith given us by grace. We enter into this life through heartfelt confession. And then our life becomes transformed through God truths.

The life we live as true Christians is a life of choice.
It is not a brow beating religion that has been enforced upon us.
Those who have confess Christianity in such a manner have not yet entered into the Love or God, nor have the truth of Christ within them.

The Love and truth that comes form Christ is liberating, and will Free you to be YOU.
It will destroy the bands that have held you back in life.
If you choose ... you can receive Jesus into your life, and break free.
But the choice is always YOURS.


Romans 10:9-10

A Serene Kind of Day

*Serene defines as: Clear, Free, Light, steady and quite.

Today has been a serene kind of day ... by choice.


Our lives like vapors seem to be here one minute and gone the next. Lives are to be lived in the now; lived being good, doing good, and receiving good. ~James 4:14

Life is filled with choices.

Choices produce outcomes. You can not choose what another person thinks, says or does, but you can choose what you think, say and do, because you are a free will agent. One that can choose peace.

Peace that passes understanding. Peace that can be given to others and drawn again to oneself. Peace that bruises the enemy underfoot.

• Phil 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
• Mt. 10:13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.
• Ro. 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

1Th 5:23
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Message says: "....put you together spirit, soul and body. "

If you feel that you are falling apart ... seek peace and pursue it. Call on the God who causes wars to cease. ~Psalms 46

• Be still.
• Still yourself.
• Quite yourself like a weaned child.
• Rest.

• Phil. 4:6 be careful for nothing ... pray.
• Phil. 4:8 think right ... meditate.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

• Phil. 4:9 act on truth.

Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

• Ps. 131:2 shhhh.

I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

• Mt. 11:28-31 (message) recover your life.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Go on, learn of Him and His ways ... and have this serene kind of life that is being offered to you.

• Choose life.
• Choose blessing.
• Choose peace.

Incorruptible Seed Producing Life

An acorn has within it the ability to produce, yet alone (without being placed in the care of the soil), it does not. Someone once said, "An infinity of forests lies dormant in the dreams of one acorn."

One little nut dreaming a dream.

When I think of this I think of I Cor. 1:21 "... it pleased God, that by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." The Word (seed) with the ability within it's self to produce and yet does not until it is placed in the care of good soil.

I Peter tells us that the Word is an incorruptible seed. The Greek word for incorruptible is, aphthartos, [af'-thar-tos] meaning that it is un-decaying in the season of continuously living [immortal]. The "a" from aphthartos actually roots back to "the beginning or the first." The first that never ends. The continuous first.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. ~ Rev. 1:8

Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book...
~ Rev. 1:11

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. ~ Ps. 119:160

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
~ Jo. 1:1

When we finally see and understand the power of the Word (written in the sense of offering directions ... spoken in the sense of being powerful) our lives take a turn. We can no longer excuse ourselves for our actions, but instead we must change the way we think and the we we speak ... in doing so there will be a change outwardly (in our actions and conditions of living).

De 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Pr 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

James chapter 3 must be read in completion to understand the deadly poison of death that can work in a mans' spoken word; as well as the life that comes form the tongue of the wise.

Isa 50:4
The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

The belief system of a person is the foundation for/of their existence.

Mr 9:23
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Mt 9:29
Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

Every person has the ability within them to hold seeds of greatness, but they must choose a life of blessing. When they do ... Oh, the infinite of possibilities.

Will you choose blessing today?
Will you allow the life of the Word to wash in the mind like tides rolling in and out?
Will you allow rivers to bubble up within you and come out of you today?

The Word of God is powerful in the transformation of the mind.
Transformation from death to life.

God's word in your mouth is power. It is a creative force that can bring into existence all that is good and perfect. Yet that same Word can be misused to a detriment when it is spoken erroneously from a wrong spirit.

When you ask Jesus into your heart (you are asking the Spirit of life and love to come and indwell you). You are inviting God (who is love) to live in you.

Upon doing this you are saved from eternal death (hell), and gain eternal life (heaven). But in this life (the now) you gain the kingdom. A kingdom that dwells within you ... waiting to manifest for you.

It is your choice.
I chose Jesus. I chose life. I chose love (agape). I chose blessing. And my life has been forever changed.

Are you living your life from the Shrine of Busy?

According to 1Co 3:16 you are the temple of God with the Spirit of God dwelling within you.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

People busy themselves with many things. Work, worry, fearful thoughts, keeping up with the Jones (so to speak). You can add to the list from your own experiences.


People are always talking about how busy they are and how much they have to do. It is like a shrine in their lives called, "The Shrine of Busy" ... the place they find worth and value. And in all their business they tear down their bodies. They become mentally exhausted and emotionally unstable. Their peace, happiness and joy flees and carries with it physical vitality, mental focus and soon attacks finances and every area of well being.


I have found that life has a Rhythm that keeps a person in balance when they live their lives awake to, and aware of the Spirit. Stop for a minute and think about today ... How much of what you did was ordered by the Spirit within? Did you even take time this morning to pray/meditate on the Word and listen to the Holy Spirit within?
Matthew 11:28-31
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

The Holy Spirit will help us and keep our lives in a healthy, safe and productive balance if we allow. There is a rest that aides in walking in all the promises of God. A rest that the children after leaving Egypt did not enter.
When people weary and wear themselves out from worry, overwork, extreme study or what ever else that is excessive they soon murmur and complain, and they find themselves on the outside of the promises of God.


There is a time to work and labor with our hands. Work (Service) is part of a healthy life. However, if we are excessively busy and do not get the required sleep needed, we fall into the category of vanities.

Psalms 127:2
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.






When people do not get the required sleep their immune systems break down, and they also are irritable. Relationships suffer, as do the jobs that have previously been placed high on your scale of priority.

It is vital that you take care of yourself. The Word of God tells us to love others as we love ourselves. How do you love and care for you? Do you overwork your body? If you do you probably expect others to do the same.

Do you fail to nourish your body in varies ways, such as good hygiene, nice dress, quality foods and a balanced diet, exercise and quiet time? What about a hobby (times of fun), times where you laugh and relax. And how often do you feed and hydrate your the spirit within with Spiritual food and refreshing worship? Has Work, Work, Work ... Busy, Busy, Busy ... kept you from these things?

People who do not do these things usual begrudge those who do. They become very critical and judgmental of others and their more balanced lifestyles that prosper and flourish.

There are two great deception in the earth concerning Work.

• One is that we are a do nothing people and if we are Christians we no longer work, we now live by faith (which I say as those who err). The truth is those who live by faith live balanced lives of which servitude is involved.
• The other great deception is that we work and work and work to make a living, to be famous, and to be valuable.

Life has a Rhythm ... a balance.