The warnings came
in the night
my phone buzzing incessantly
Heavy rainfall
Flash flood imminent
Get to higher ground
the disturbing reality
you are not safe where you are
where you most feel safe
you are not
where it seems these alerts
are just an annoyance
a disturbance
where all seems okay
where i feel that i can and should rest
i need to move from
from the structure
i have taken refuge in for so long
it cannot hold
it is not strong enough
it will not hold
even the ground itself is not going to remain
it will crumble
and be swept away
get to higher ground
get to higher ground
get to higher ground
where is higher ground?
how do I know what is higher?
what is the way there?
how do I move there?
"When my heart is overwhelmed within me,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
Psalm 61:2 KJV
You alone
are that rock
that is higher
You alone are that
firm
unmovable
unchanging
unconquerable
rock
When the storms of life
hit my burn scars
and all gives way at once
into a rushing
moving
torrent
of destuction
that nothing human can withstand
move me
to higher ground
to refuge in you alone
When the raw truth
of human inadequacy
and need is revealed
in a moment
When all I know and depend on
is swept away
in a moment
lead me O Lord
to higher ground in you
You are the very highest
You are the most firm
You are our only rock
that can withstand
and endure
it is so uncomfortable
to stand in my need
in the reality of just how great my need is
to have all illusionary
structures and defences
swept away
to be left standing here
so powerless
so vulnerable
to the ravages of human existence
and to the reality
of my deep need of you
Help me to not run from this place
of deep and abiding reality
I am not higher ground
I cannot make higher ground
others can love and care and support
in such beautiful
and loving and amazing ways
but they cannot be that higher ground
either
for myself
or anyone I love
and so desperately
want to be safe
"When my heart is overwhelmed within me,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
Psalm 61:2 KJV
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”...
3
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
Under his wings you will take refuge.
His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.
Psalm 91:1-2, 4
This does not mean I will necessarily be shielded from the ravages and sufferings of human existence
Jesus himself did not refuse the suffering of being human and all that this entails
a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief
I believe it does mean
that God himself
Who He Is
That will not change
That He will be with me in whatever it is I will experience
that even when it comes time for me to die
and let go of everything
a time when truly
no one else can help me at all
that you will be there
that you will take me to Yourself
that you will carry me in your bosom
You will bring me home
to Yourself
"When my heart is overwhelmed within me,
Lead me to the rock, that is higher than I."
Psalm 61;2
Showing posts with label sincerity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sincerity. Show all posts
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Who Am I Talking To?
"I will go up to the lookout tower.
I'll station myself on tHe city wall.
I'll wait to see how the LORD will reply to me.
Then I'll try to figure out how to answer him." Habakkuk 2:1
"Lord how long do I have to call out for help?
Why don't you listen to me?
How long must I keep telling you
that things are terrible?
Why don't you save us? Habakkuk 1:1
Habakkuk knew where to go with his burning questions
He didn't wait until he had his emotions under control
It came out all hot and fiery
But it came out to the one who He knew was listening and cared
and who he knew would answer him in His own time and way
To Whom am I speaking?
Trusting God does not mean I do not feel angry, depressed, sad, bewildered or even abandoned
What do I do with these feelings?
Do I bring them to Him?
Reading the lives of others to see God working
I love reading biographies of persons seeking to trust and obey God through all kinds of difficulties and their own failings and flaws
Lately to me, it seems that many of these stories are written showing persons who by the grace of God come through their struggles
are enabled to persevere and do amazing things
including overcoming themselves
their fears, hesitations, inclination to self-preservation and racism etc
The ones I find most encouraging are the ones who bare their souls and let me see the struggles,
the failings, the doubts, etc.
I wonder, though, in our human tendency to want to make a nice story and a happy ending
we don't inadvertently gloss and smooth over rough points too much
making and drawing straight lines and conclusions
where the truth was more complex and murky
Why I need to see and hear your struggles
I love Habakkuk because he just lays it out there
"Lord how long do I have to call out for help?
Why don't you listen to me?
How long must I keep telling you
that things are terrible?
Why don't you save us?
This comforts me because I don't always find any improvement ( to my own limited sight and to my own limited definitions) to the things I am so desperately in conversation with God over
It is always true that I need to grow in grace
in trusting in
in believing in you
in practical working out of your truth
in my heart, inner thoughts, conversations, perspectives, reactions, relationships, etc
but there is this sharp assassin's blade thrown into my heart
If you trusted God ___________
(more, better, fuller, deeper, more practically - you fill in the adjective)
then you would
be more full of joy and peace, be able to have a stronger and better effect on those around,
see more spiritual fruit, etc, etc, fill in the blank...)
Partially true / Partially false
YES it is true that we can always be more filled with the Holy Spirit
and His working of inner peace and joy and love to others
courage to act selflessly
persist in difficulty
YES
But even Christ said "Father Father, why have you forsaken me?
He felt abandoned and alone even in the center of God's will
and accomplishing the very work He came to do
You gave us the Psalms that are full of poignant emotion
much of it we would term negative
Habakkuk is feeling deep pain and angst
even as he is looking forward to hearing how the Lord is going to meet him
I am struggling through a long season of trial
feeling as one could imagine
and the thought that things could/would be better if I were more spiritual is a painful one
true but also untrue
I think the best way forward is to just talk with you about this
let you sort me out
You can show me where there is unbelief, bitterness, self pity, resentment, hardness of heart
Only you can help me to see the truth
Only you can bring me closer to you and more and more free of these things
Only you can transform me
and those around me
Worship and Peace
Yes, this is the point
all about you and not me
O Lord,
help me to remain in openness to you
where you can work in me
Help me to trust in you
when there is a sense of overcoming
and when there is not
it is not about my feeble evaluations
You are the one I need no matter what is going on around me and in me
You are able to get what you want in me
24 God is strong and can help you not to fall.
He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you
and give you great joy.
25 He is the only God.
He is the One who saves us.
To him be glory, greatness, power, and authority
through Jesus Christ our Lord
for all time past, now, and forever. Amen.
Jude 24-25 International Children's Bible
I'll station myself on tHe city wall.
I'll wait to see how the LORD will reply to me.
Then I'll try to figure out how to answer him." Habakkuk 2:1
"Lord how long do I have to call out for help?
Why don't you listen to me?
How long must I keep telling you
that things are terrible?
Why don't you save us? Habakkuk 1:1
Habakkuk knew where to go with his burning questions
He didn't wait until he had his emotions under control
It came out all hot and fiery
But it came out to the one who He knew was listening and cared
and who he knew would answer him in His own time and way
To Whom am I speaking?
Trusting God does not mean I do not feel angry, depressed, sad, bewildered or even abandoned
What do I do with these feelings?
Do I bring them to Him?
Reading the lives of others to see God working
I love reading biographies of persons seeking to trust and obey God through all kinds of difficulties and their own failings and flaws
Lately to me, it seems that many of these stories are written showing persons who by the grace of God come through their struggles
are enabled to persevere and do amazing things
including overcoming themselves
their fears, hesitations, inclination to self-preservation and racism etc
The ones I find most encouraging are the ones who bare their souls and let me see the struggles,
the failings, the doubts, etc.
I wonder, though, in our human tendency to want to make a nice story and a happy ending
we don't inadvertently gloss and smooth over rough points too much
making and drawing straight lines and conclusions
where the truth was more complex and murky
Why I need to see and hear your struggles
I love Habakkuk because he just lays it out there
"Lord how long do I have to call out for help?
Why don't you listen to me?
How long must I keep telling you
that things are terrible?
Why don't you save us?
This comforts me because I don't always find any improvement ( to my own limited sight and to my own limited definitions) to the things I am so desperately in conversation with God over
It is always true that I need to grow in grace
in trusting in
in believing in you
in practical working out of your truth
in my heart, inner thoughts, conversations, perspectives, reactions, relationships, etc
but there is this sharp assassin's blade thrown into my heart
If you trusted God ___________
(more, better, fuller, deeper, more practically - you fill in the adjective)
then you would
be more full of joy and peace, be able to have a stronger and better effect on those around,
see more spiritual fruit, etc, etc, fill in the blank...)
Partially true / Partially false
YES it is true that we can always be more filled with the Holy Spirit
and His working of inner peace and joy and love to others
courage to act selflessly
persist in difficulty
YES
But even Christ said "Father Father, why have you forsaken me?
He felt abandoned and alone even in the center of God's will
and accomplishing the very work He came to do
You gave us the Psalms that are full of poignant emotion
much of it we would term negative
Habakkuk is feeling deep pain and angst
even as he is looking forward to hearing how the Lord is going to meet him
I am struggling through a long season of trial
feeling as one could imagine
and the thought that things could/would be better if I were more spiritual is a painful one
true but also untrue
I think the best way forward is to just talk with you about this
let you sort me out
You can show me where there is unbelief, bitterness, self pity, resentment, hardness of heart
Only you can help me to see the truth
Only you can bring me closer to you and more and more free of these things
Only you can transform me
and those around me
Worship and Peace
Yes, this is the point
all about you and not me
O Lord,
help me to remain in openness to you
where you can work in me
Help me to trust in you
when there is a sense of overcoming
and when there is not
it is not about my feeble evaluations
You are the one I need no matter what is going on around me and in me
You are able to get what you want in me
24 God is strong and can help you not to fall.
He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you
and give you great joy.
25 He is the only God.
He is the One who saves us.
To him be glory, greatness, power, and authority
through Jesus Christ our Lord
for all time past, now, and forever. Amen.
Jude 24-25 International Children's Bible
Saturday, February 21, 2015
The Joy of Being Loved
Luke 15:11-32J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
11-19 Then he continued, “Once there was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the property that will come to me.’ So he divided up his property between the two of them. Before very long, the younger son collected all his belongings and went off to a foreign land, where he squandered his wealth in the wildest extravagance. And when he had run through all his money, a terrible famine arose in that country, and he began to feel the pinch. Then he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him out into the fields to feed the pigs. He got to the point of longing to stuff himself with the food the pigs were eating and not a soul gave him anything. Then he came to his senses and cried aloud, ‘Why, dozens of my father’s hired men have got more food than they can eat and here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go back to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have done wrong in the sight of Heaven and in your eyes. I don’t deserve to be called your son any more. Please take me on as one of your hired men.”’
20-24 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still some distance off, his father saw him and his heart went out to him, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. But his son said, ‘Father, I have done wrong in the sight of Heaven and in your eyes. I don’t deserve to be called your son any more ....’ ‘Hurry!’ called out his father to the servants, ‘fetch the best clothes and put them on him! Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet, and get that calf we’ve fattened and kill it, and we will have a feast and a celebration! For this is my son—I thought he was dead, and he’s alive again. I thought I had lost him, and he’s found!’ And they began to get the festivities going.
25-32 “But his elder son was out in the fields, and as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants across to him and enquired what was the meaning of it all. ‘Your brother has arrived, and your father has killed the calf we fattened because he has got him home again safe and sound,’ was the reply. But he was furious and refused to go inside the house. So his father came outside and called him. Then he burst out, ‘Look, how many years have I slaved for you and never disobeyed a single order of yours, and yet you have never given me so much as a young goat, so that I could give my friends a dinner? But when that son of yours arrives, who has spent all your money on prostitutes, for him you kill the calf we’ve fattened!’ But the father replied, ‘My dear son, you have been with me all the time and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and show our joy. For this is your brother; I thought he was dead—and he’s alive. I thought he was lost—and he is found!’”
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS
This is a tale of two sons, both wanting to have nice things and enjoy life
but only one of them comes to love, to know the joy of being loved
Both sons had so much
a loving father and home
many, many nice things
but it was not enough for either of them
So the one demanded his share of his father's wealth and then abandonded him
he sought adventure, pleasure and fun
He found it... for a while
Then he found deprivation, hunger, alienation, shame and desperation
He came to a truthful acknowledgement of his own selfish and destructive choices
He acknowledged that all along he had a Father who loved him
and would do what was right to take care of him
He saw both himself and his Father in a new and more truthful way
He summoned up the courage to return home
to face whatever was to come
to clearly state his own behavior as wrong
to admit the damage he had done to the relationship
He was willing to do whatever it would take to make things right in time
What he found was beyond belief -
joy in his return
love for his person
forgiveness for his wrongs
absolution of his debt
a return to his place in the family
What was his response?
How could it be anything other than joy, pure joy
grace, gratitude and amazement
knowing he deserved none of this
deserved lots of things he was not getting
getting lots of things he did not deserve
The joy of being loved,deeply truly loved for no reason at all other than
A Father's love
The other son also wanted all the nice things around him and a good time with his friends
But he never found it
He felt like a slave
he didn't feel like he got what he deserved
He thought he was okay and would get it eventually
until his brother returned
and the father lavished the best they had
on another
He even refers to his brother as "your other son"
He had missed developing a relationship of love with his father and with his brother
He had lived all those years not enjoying what was right there all the time
the deep and wonderful love of such a father
He was doing what he did for what it would get him
not out of love for such a Father
Oh, Lord
help me
not to miss YOU
YOU in all things
YOU above all things
YOU more than anything
YOU are here
right now
right here
yearning to love me
deeply
truly
Both sons thought the treasure was the stuff that belonged to the Father
But only one discovered that the real treasure was
the Father himself
to be enjoyed
right here
right now
‘My dear son, you have been with me all the time and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and show our joy. For this is your brother; I thought he was dead—and he’s alive. I thought he was lost—and he is found!’”
John 14:1-7 Phillips
14 1-4 “You must not let yourselves be distressed—you must hold on to your faith in God and to your faith in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s House. If there were not, should I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? It is true that I am going away to prepare a place for you, but it is just as true that I am coming again to welcome you into my own home, so that you may be where I am. You know where I am going and you know the road I am going to take.”
5 “Lord,” Thomas remonstrated, “we do not know where you’re going, and how can we know what road you’re going to take?”
6-7 “I myself am the road,” replied Jesus, “and the truth and the life. No one approaches the Father except through me. If you had known who I am, you would have known my Father. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.”
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Desperate Faith
"21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment."
Matthew 15:21-28New International Version (NIV)
She came to Jesus
because need drove her
She had no one else who could possibly help
She had no other option
She had no other possiblity
or any other hope
She knew she was not enough
to meet the need of another
She knew she was not enough
to meet the need of another
She had never met HIM
or knew HIM
but she had heard of HIM
and believed
The only other option
was despair
She came to him
driven by love
for another
driven by the suffering
of seeing her loved one
of seeing her loved one
suffer
torment
upon
torment
on and on
over and over
She came
she pursued
she sought out
she would not
be turned away
by anything
Why did Jesus not respond to her at first?
I do not know
she did not know
But still she continued to seek and pursue HIM
Why did Jesus only respond after the others complained about her?
I do not know
she did not know
but still she continued to seek and pursue HIM
He answered her in what seems so gruff,, rejecting, and final
Why did he speak thus to her?
I do not know
she did not know
but still she continued to seek and pursue HIM
She talked back to Jesus
and he commended her
A crumb
that is all I am asking
a crumb
because YOU are SO GREAT
that will be ENOUGH
because YOU are SO GREAT
that will be ENOUGH
Say whatever you will say or do
or not say or do
to me
or not say or do
to me
I will not stop pursuing you
"Lord to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life"
John 6:68 KJV
John 6:68 KJV
I get so confused about persisting in coming to YOU in prayer...
Do you just want us to be pigheaded and stubborn?
relentlessly pestering you to death
with my cries and requests?
But You did not say to this woman. "Great is your endurance"
"great is your patience"
"great is your stubborness"
You said, 'Great is your faith.'
Yes, I want things of you
I want you to listen to my heart
and do what I so earnestly long for
but I am so afraid to really pray for what I desire
because there really is no way to do this safely
prayer is the verbalizing
and
articulating
of what is deep within
of what is deep within
the admitting of what I long for
the words come out with my heart still attatched to them
the words come out with my heart still attatched to them
What if you do not answer the way I want?
What if you do not answer when I want?
What if you do not answer me at all?
What if I don't even know what the answer is that you are giving to me?
What if your answer is no
to what I feel desperate about
to what I feel that I just cannot do without
And so I remain in the no man's land
of vague generalities
requests framed like statements in a fortune cookie
so that no matter what happens
I can stay somewhat emotionally "safe"
But you pushed this woman beyond
beyond caring what anyone else thought
beyond even a seemingly unfavorable response from you
You pushed her to stake her all
on YOU
not on any guarentee she would get what she was asking for
but on who YOU ARE
You will give what is good
somehow
in time
You may not give me what I want
when I want it
But you long to always give me
YOURSELF
The Lord is near to those who call upon him
to those who call upon him in truth.
Psalm 145:18 NIV
This is the voice of a man who calls out:
"Prepare in the desert
the way for the Lord.
Make the road in the dry lands
straight for our God.
Every valley should be raised up.
Every mountain and hills should be made flat,
The rough ground should be made level.
The rugged ground sold be made smooth.
Then the glory of the Lord will be shown.
All people together will see it.
The Lord himself said these things."
Isaiah 40 :3-5 ICB
Yes,
even these desperate needs
are an opportunity
to prepare my heart
for your coming
in
Oh Lord, help me to not try to keep you at a distance
keepng all the pain
all the desperate desires and longings
bottled up inside of me
and away from you
Help me to open my heart to you
in the midst of this desperation
this deep grief, disappointment,
confusion or desire
Oh Lord, help me to not try to keep you at a distance
keepng all the pain
all the desperate desires and longings
bottled up inside of me
and away from you
Help me to open my heart to you
in the midst of this desperation
this deep grief, disappointment,
confusion or desire
no matter what the situation
or what others are saying or thinkig or doing
help me
help me
to trust in you
in who you are
not anything else
to rest in you
in who you are
not anything else
to rest in you
to know your presence and your love in my heart
to commune with you all that is in my heart
nothing hidden
nothing reserved
to open the depths of my being to your depths of love
to know you in the deep
"Deep calls unto deep
at the noise of your waterfalls
All your waves and billows have gone over me."
Psalm 42:7 NKJV
to commune with you all that is in my heart
nothing hidden
nothing reserved
to open the depths of my being to your depths of love
to know you in the deep
"Deep calls unto deep
at the noise of your waterfalls
All your waves and billows have gone over me."
Psalm 42:7 NKJV
yes
this is where you get you glory
you will transform my inner life
and others will see your greatness
you will transform my inner life
and others will see your greatness
and be drawn to YOU
your
beauty,
grace,
wisdom,
love,
compassion
and power.
Praise you Lord!
your
beauty,
grace,
wisdom,
love,
compassion
and power.
Praise you Lord!
Every valley should be raised up.
Every mountain and hills should be made flat,
The rough ground should be made level.
The rugged ground sold be made smooth.
Then the glory of the Lord will be shown.
All people together will see it.
The Lord himself said these things."
Isaiah 40 :4-5 ICB
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Integrity
(There are so many powerful issues raised by this tragic interchange of two people - the lesson I am seeking to absorb is not meant in any way to trivialize or gloss over any of the deep questions this situation raises. It is just one small thought that has impacted and helped me to change)
Darren Wilson,
simply had no idea that confronting two boys walking down the middle of a street would end up so profoundly changing his life
ending his job,
putting him on trial
nationwide even international attention
Michael Brown
had no idea that taking cigarillos from the corner store and encountering a lone man in a car would make any real impact on his day
let alone his life
who knew?
so much of my life can seem mundane, trivial, obscure
I cannot even imagine having the intense scrutiny that this unfortunate and tragic interchange has brought upon these two individuals, their families, their communities, their town, this nation etc.
When I am home with my children...
Would I act differently if another adult was there to observe?
How would I act if several people were there?
or even my whole neighborhood?
or my whole town?
what if I was being filmed for the world over to scrutinize and replay over and over again and discuss?
Integrity is being exactly the same in all of these situations
because God is always watching
God always sees me
People have a wide variety of opinions, perspectives, responses
but
God always sees and God knows
not just what I do
but why
nothing can be hid or disguised from Him
Living for an audience of One
If I live with God in view
if I live knowing God has me in view
what would that change?
my attitude
the why of what I do
seeking to love Him who has loved me first
by showing practical love
to those He has put right here in front of me
seeing them as the opportunity God has given
to both know His love and grace working in me
and to extend it to them.
Believing that only through Jesus
am I or any one else, brought into this wonderful relationship
with the Living and all powerful and all loving God
That I deserve nothing, worse than nothing
and therefore can show His love and grace to anyone
Inner Transformation working outwards
how this changes my demeanor and tone and how I interact with my children, my spouse, my neighbors
the employee I have to interact with to get the window in my house repaired
to see each one as You see them
loved, desired, understood, longing to bless and comfort and save
how do I see these people?
how do I treat them?
how do I see that sink of dirty dishes
that pile of laundry
that bathroom that needs cleaning
meaningless,
trivial
mundane
obscure
something to avoid
or rush through to get to more 'meaningful' activities elsewhere?
How do I think, act ,interact and respond when someone I care about
or at least want to think well of me
is watching?
How do I - when I think no one is watching?
what would I do differently if I knew ahead of time that the tiny details of my day were going to be broadcast and scrutinized and discussed by millions?
this is reality with God
to be the same with or without
to live before His gaze only
an audience of one
this will keep me
this will transform me
this will bring me to my knees
to seek Jesus for the kind of deep, transforming and pervasive change He has wanted to do all along
"Faithful in little; Faithful in much"
Oh Lord,
help me to know you are here with me
you have given me these tasks and no one else
you see all
you see my motives and my heart
you are never confused or unaware or unsure of what is going on with me
within me
Help me to be
to do,
to be in relationships
as you want
as you will enable
whether anyone one else sees or doesn't see
You do see me
You see what I do
You see what I want
I want You
this is life changing and powerful
for me
and for all with whom my life intersects
This is opportunity on a grand scale
let me not believe the lies
that what lies before me is inconsequential
trivial
meaningless
drudgery
it is opportunity
to find YOU
to know YOU
to be changed
to know more of YOU
to know more of YOU in me
in my home
in my family
in my day
help me not to be driven to seek what you have not given at this time from others
such as attention, affirmation, approval
help me to seek and find You
right here and right now
in this place and time where I am
knowing I am not alone
but You are with me
Darren Wilson,
simply had no idea that confronting two boys walking down the middle of a street would end up so profoundly changing his life
ending his job,
putting him on trial
nationwide even international attention
Michael Brown
had no idea that taking cigarillos from the corner store and encountering a lone man in a car would make any real impact on his day
let alone his life
who knew?
Proverbs 27:1New International Version
27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
for you do not know what a day may bring.
New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Take home lesson among many
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
if either of them could have known or seen the earth-shattering impact of choices made in relative obscurity and minutia would it have made any difference?
so much of my life can seem mundane, trivial, obscure
I cannot even imagine having the intense scrutiny that this unfortunate and tragic interchange has brought upon these two individuals, their families, their communities, their town, this nation etc.
When I am home with my children...
Would I act differently if another adult was there to observe?
How would I act if several people were there?
or even my whole neighborhood?
or my whole town?
what if I was being filmed for the world over to scrutinize and replay over and over again and discuss?
Integrity is being exactly the same in all of these situations
because God is always watching
God always sees me
People have a wide variety of opinions, perspectives, responses
but
God always sees and God knows
not just what I do
but why
nothing can be hid or disguised from Him
Living for an audience of One
If I live with God in view
if I live knowing God has me in view
what would that change?
my attitude
the why of what I do
seeking to love Him who has loved me first
by showing practical love
to those He has put right here in front of me
seeing them as the opportunity God has given
to both know His love and grace working in me
and to extend it to them.
Believing that only through Jesus
am I or any one else, brought into this wonderful relationship
with the Living and all powerful and all loving God
That I deserve nothing, worse than nothing
and therefore can show His love and grace to anyone
Inner Transformation working outwards
how this changes my demeanor and tone and how I interact with my children, my spouse, my neighbors
the employee I have to interact with to get the window in my house repaired
to see each one as You see them
loved, desired, understood, longing to bless and comfort and save
how do I see these people?
how do I treat them?
how do I see that sink of dirty dishes
that pile of laundry
that bathroom that needs cleaning
meaningless,
trivial
mundane
obscure
something to avoid
or rush through to get to more 'meaningful' activities elsewhere?
Luke 16:10New King James Version (NKJV)
10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
How do I think, act ,interact and respond when someone I care about
or at least want to think well of me
is watching?
How do I - when I think no one is watching?
what would I do differently if I knew ahead of time that the tiny details of my day were going to be broadcast and scrutinized and discussed by millions?
this is reality with God
to be the same with or without
to live before His gaze only
an audience of one
this will keep me
this will transform me
this will bring me to my knees
to seek Jesus for the kind of deep, transforming and pervasive change He has wanted to do all along
"Faithful in little; Faithful in much"
Oh Lord,
help me to know you are here with me
you have given me these tasks and no one else
you see all
you see my motives and my heart
you are never confused or unaware or unsure of what is going on with me
within me
Help me to be
to do,
to be in relationships
as you want
as you will enable
whether anyone one else sees or doesn't see
You do see me
You see what I do
You see what I want
I want You
this is life changing and powerful
for me
and for all with whom my life intersects
This is opportunity on a grand scale
let me not believe the lies
that what lies before me is inconsequential
trivial
meaningless
drudgery
it is opportunity
to find YOU
to know YOU
to be changed
to know more of YOU
to know more of YOU in me
in my home
in my family
in my day
help me not to be driven to seek what you have not given at this time from others
such as attention, affirmation, approval
help me to seek and find You
right here and right now
in this place and time where I am
knowing I am not alone
but You are with me
Hebrews 13:5-6New International Version (NIV)
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,because God has said,
6 So we say with confidence,
Footnotes:
- Hebrews 13:5 Deut. 31:6
- Hebrews 13:6 Psalm 118:6,7
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Corinthians 10:31New International Version (NIV)
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, In.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide
Colossians 3:23J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
Whatever you do, put your whole heart and soul into it, as into work done for God, and not merely for men—knowing that your real reward, a heavenly one, will come from God, since you are actually employed by Christ,...
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins
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