IM. I Am. He Is.

Facebook. Myspace. Twitter. MSN. It is instant messaging time. What has occurred in the lives of the friends that I have gone two hours without instant messaging?! Isn't it funny, and quite sad how a generation is connected, almost too connected?

I have the opportunity of giving an oratory speech for Speech and Debate tournaments.  A piece of my speech speaks of the concept of the IM, and the instant messaging craze of our technological era. Instead of focusing on the impact of instant messaging though, I have realized the our Inner Messaging is what truly shapes who we are.  What we tell ourselves daily, hourly, and even second by second centers our perspective and influences our potential.

I give this speech pretty frequently too; in fact I am in the midst of a competition this week. As I say this line time and time again, it is beginning to lose its validity, yet inspire a new meaning within me.

 It is true that what we tell ourselves is a large contributer to what we believe and why we believe it.  We must ask ourselves what the source of our inner messages are. Are the messages holy? Are they breathed of the Spirit?

Many times what we think we are telling ourselves is actually what He is telling us. But before we begin to assume that something is of Him we must test these messages against His word to validate them. 

I think it is incredible how the Lord speaks to us in the most ingenious of ways. He is a whole different dimension of creative, isn't He? How the Lord delivers His word and guidance to us is unbelievably complex. Although many may say that all of the Lord's commandments and "tips for success" are already stated in His Word, the ways he reveals his promises to us makes me astonished. They are in a timely manner; on his perfect time schedule. He knows what we are prepared to hear about him. In the same way, he knows when to deliver insight to us, challenging our miniscule thought processes beyond the mundane world's perspective. His messages are holy. And, we cannot trust our own messages for anything. We must listen to His voice and disregard the voices of sinners. Seek the truth with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Seek messages and encouragement from Him, and beware of the flawed advice of the flesh.

We are not what our IM tells us we should be. We need to be people that looks for His messages. The purest of all voices, our guiding light. 

Tomorrow is the last time I will ever perform my "Dash" speech to an audience of judges, and competitors. I cannot continue to let people believe that our inner messages will lead us to a world of success. By listening to ourselves, we make a 360 degree turn: we get nowhere. Let us look to him....and honestly listen. Let us keep our ears open, our thoughts pure, and let us call on Him with eager hearts. If we call, He will answer. 

He is the source of the messages, and the messenger. With six conversations occurring between friends on our "instant messaging" sites per night,it seems so easy to become distracted and illusioned. Words of truth, comfort and validity will only come from ONE conversation. Let us add the Lord to our friends list.