Out of the Corner of My Eye – Part Two
“But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.” (MSG – James 1: 25)
In my last post on this subject I began to ponder a few questions based upon the verse above.
My first question was this; “What or more accurately who, is the revealed counsel of God.”
My answer was: One name: Jesus. Our Lord and Savior lived an earthly existence to provide us a glimpse into the heart and mind of God our Father, to set an example of how we should live our lives, and the sacrifice Jesus made through His shed blood, poured out at the foot of the cross paved the way for us to be redeemed of sin and to give us the hope of eternal life. (John 6:47)
The second question, or more accurately put second and third questions were:
“If I am truly no longer a ‘distracted scatterbrain but a woman of action,’ what actions should I be focused upon?” And, “If I focus on carrying out those actions, will I truly find ‘delight and affirmation’ by doing them?
After many days of reflection and time spent with the Lord in His word, the impressions that are on my heart in answer to these questions follow.
Please keep a couple of things in mind as you read my thoughts. First, these are the things God has placed on my heart. Each person will be different, and the ‘action items’ that God places on your heart may look totally different from mine. Second, often I tend to be a little slow at realizing what God is trying to teach me and it takes me a while to get on board with His plan for my life.
1st Action Step – God is to become greater, I am to become lesser! “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV) I have embarked on a journey to not think so highly of myself. Not that I am putting myself down. I realize how truly blessed I am to be loved by the King; Most High God. But, as Louie Giglio says, “i am not, but I know I AM.”
This action step is tough. It goes against everything that most of us have ever felt, been taught, and believed. The world shouts at us to make a name for ourselves. We are encouraged to amass as much of the worlds toys as possible. We are told to do whatever it takes to climb the ladder to success. But, I must remember these are lies of the world, brewed by the master of evil and are contrary to God’s perfect teachings. In God’s word He tells us, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (I Peter 5:5 b, NIV) I not only want God’s grace, but I desperately need it as well. To more fully enjoy the riches of God’s grace I need to practice humility. Make much ado about Jesus and pay less attention to attempts at garnering glowing reviews on my performance.
2nd Action Step - “Pray without ceasing.” (I Thess. 5:17 NKJV) This means I am to pray about everything. The big things in life and the small things. When I arise in the morning and all throughout the day. Not just during my devotion time, or before I close my eyes at night, but all the time! My continuous prayer has become, “Dear Lord, grant me an attitude of prayer in all of life circumstances, no matter what I am doing.”
3rd Action Step – Humility begins at home. I am being called to become a better model of a godly wife for my husband. “The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.” (I Peter 3: 1-4 MSG) I am to honor him with my actions, my words and my deeds. I am to be quick to praise and slow to anger. God is teaching me many ways that I can improve my performance in this area.
4th Action Step – Make showing Jesus to my sons a priority. “Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:7 MSG) I must be daily in the word. I must be ready, at any given minute, to respond to the challenges of parenthood with Godly instruction. I desire to point the way to Jesus by the manner in which I live my life. This is critical in raising children. Without knowledge of God, a child has no true compass; no way to reach the full potential for their lives that God uniquely designed them to fill.
Looking over this list of action steps, I realize that I have my work cut out for me. Each one of these things will challenge me, and test my resolve to follow Jesus. All combined, I realize that apart from the grace of God I would have no chance for success. I realize that, this side of heaven at least, I will never grow to the point of living in a state of perfection on any of my action items. But, praise God, He doesn’t call us to live a perfect life. He calls us to have a heart that desires to do a little better each day, and to strive to live out the desire to grow in Him.
“Father God, Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your amazing word and how it has the power to soften my heart and change my life. Thank you for not expecting perfection from me. I pray that you will give me the strength, willpower and determination to open myself fully to your revealed word. I pray that I might willingly surrender any stronghold that keeps me from hearing your voice and following as one of your faithful sheep. Help me to allow You to become greater while I become lesser, assist me toward giving myself to a life of prayer without ceasing, please help me to become more humble, and give me the knowledge and wisdom to point my sons to your unfailing love. I ask this in the precious Lord and Savior, Jesus.”
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Out of the Corner of My Eye
“But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.” (MSG – James 1: 25)
I don’t know what your life is like, but lately I have definitely been acting like a distracted scatterbrain; and I don’t like it at all! So, when I read this passage of scripture this morning my interest was piqued. This verse tells me that if I catch a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God, even out of the corner of my eye, I am not a distracted scatterbrain but a woman of action.
As I began to ponder the verse, a couple of questions came to mind.
First, I must question, “What or more accurately who, is the revealed counsel of God.” I think that it would be safe to answer that one with one name: Jesus. Our Lord and Savior lived an earthly existence to provide us a glimpse into the heart and mind of God our Father, to set an example of how we should live our lives, and the sacrifice Jesus made through His shed blood, poured out at the foot of the cross paved the way for us to be redeemed of sin and to give us the hope of eternal life. (John 6:47)
What I find intriguing is that this verse doesn’t command that I must reach some goal or lofty religious pinnacle of success to gain the ‘free life.’ Rather, it states that all that is required is that I ‘catch a glimpse’ of Jesus. I like that! I am human. I fail. Often many times I fail before I can even begin to gain a small amount of ground in my quest to live life more as Jesus did. You see I really want to follow Jesus and live my life out loud for him, but I struggle with selfish desire and human weakness. I can relate to the apostle Paul when he wrote, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19 NIV)
What makes this verse even more powerful for me is the fact that I have very limited peripheral vision in my left eye due to a birth-defect. So, this verse provides me hope and assurance that when my heart and mind remain set on following the path of Jesus, I have already won the race for the free life. Yes, there will be times when I fall down as I run. Yes, there will be times when I become distracted by the things of this world. There will even be times when I hurt the cause of Christ by my selfish and sinful actions. However, as long as I sincerely desire the cross of Jesus to shine in my life, even a slight vision of Jesus out of the corner of my eye, will allow me to repent and quickly jump back on track and finish the race strong. Now that’s what I call, the power of God’s amazing grace.
The second question that this verse brought to my mind is this. “If I am truly no longer a ‘distracted scatterbrain but a woman of action,’ what actions should I be focused upon?” And, “If I focus on carrying out those actions, will I truly find ‘delight and affirmation’ by doing them?”
These are some really BIG thoughts for my little mind to ponder. For the next few days I intend to mull them over and allow my soul to steep in the thoughts that the Holy Spirit impresses upon me.
If this verse speaks to you, I invite you to put the kettle on and brew yourself up a big helping of reflective Jesus tea, and ask the Lord to reveal to you what action you should to be taking. I’ll come back in a few days and let you know what has been placed on my heart. If you are willing to take up the challenge and are willing to share your thoughts about this verse, please post a comment to share.
May God bless and enrich many coasts through this time!
“But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.” (MSG – James 1: 25)
I don’t know what your life is like, but lately I have definitely been acting like a distracted scatterbrain; and I don’t like it at all! So, when I read this passage of scripture this morning my interest was piqued. This verse tells me that if I catch a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God, even out of the corner of my eye, I am not a distracted scatterbrain but a woman of action.
As I began to ponder the verse, a couple of questions came to mind.
First, I must question, “What or more accurately who, is the revealed counsel of God.” I think that it would be safe to answer that one with one name: Jesus. Our Lord and Savior lived an earthly existence to provide us a glimpse into the heart and mind of God our Father, to set an example of how we should live our lives, and the sacrifice Jesus made through His shed blood, poured out at the foot of the cross paved the way for us to be redeemed of sin and to give us the hope of eternal life. (John 6:47)
What I find intriguing is that this verse doesn’t command that I must reach some goal or lofty religious pinnacle of success to gain the ‘free life.’ Rather, it states that all that is required is that I ‘catch a glimpse’ of Jesus. I like that! I am human. I fail. Often many times I fail before I can even begin to gain a small amount of ground in my quest to live life more as Jesus did. You see I really want to follow Jesus and live my life out loud for him, but I struggle with selfish desire and human weakness. I can relate to the apostle Paul when he wrote, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19 NIV)
What makes this verse even more powerful for me is the fact that I have very limited peripheral vision in my left eye due to a birth-defect. So, this verse provides me hope and assurance that when my heart and mind remain set on following the path of Jesus, I have already won the race for the free life. Yes, there will be times when I fall down as I run. Yes, there will be times when I become distracted by the things of this world. There will even be times when I hurt the cause of Christ by my selfish and sinful actions. However, as long as I sincerely desire the cross of Jesus to shine in my life, even a slight vision of Jesus out of the corner of my eye, will allow me to repent and quickly jump back on track and finish the race strong. Now that’s what I call, the power of God’s amazing grace.
The second question that this verse brought to my mind is this. “If I am truly no longer a ‘distracted scatterbrain but a woman of action,’ what actions should I be focused upon?” And, “If I focus on carrying out those actions, will I truly find ‘delight and affirmation’ by doing them?”
These are some really BIG thoughts for my little mind to ponder. For the next few days I intend to mull them over and allow my soul to steep in the thoughts that the Holy Spirit impresses upon me.
If this verse speaks to you, I invite you to put the kettle on and brew yourself up a big helping of reflective Jesus tea, and ask the Lord to reveal to you what action you should to be taking. I’ll come back in a few days and let you know what has been placed on my heart. If you are willing to take up the challenge and are willing to share your thoughts about this verse, please post a comment to share.
May God bless and enrich many coasts through this time!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
COMPASSION
I have been moved to think a lot about this word just lately. It started with a blog posting by Lysa TerKeurst. Since I read Lysa’s post requesting help for the children of Liberia, I have been praying about my level of compassion. I have been seeking God’s direction for how I can better utilize my spiritual gifts, my talents, and my abilities, to reach out to others in ‘compassion’ to share the great news of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ.
Then, my thinking and my heart were challenged yet again today by the sermon message at church entitled: “When the Holy Spirit Empowers the Church – Inspired to Influence,” which was presented by our youth pastor, Tom Buchanan. Our main scripture reference was, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 But the challenge of the day was simply this; “What are some of the things our church body, you and I, willing to do to make a difference for the cause of Christ? How can we reach out to show “compassion”?”
Personally, I have been kicking around an idea that I feel has been laid upon my heart by the Holy Spirit. I am still formulating a plan in my mind as to how I can utilize some of my talents, skills, abilities and spiritual gifts. I feel God gently urging me to use my talent for writing, my ability to take photographs, my skill at organization and desktop publishing, and my spiritual gift of teaching to develop a tool to focus attention on ways that people can be more compassionate. I may post more about this idea if I continue to feel that the idea is from God, and if He leads me to proceed.
However, no matter whether this ‘idea’ turns into a workable and doable thing or not, I know that I am called to reach out with compassion to share with others the love of Christ. I am realizing that although I do not always have the monetary means of expressing compassion and to meet expressed needs by providing $$ support, I can meet needs in other ways. In fact, for me to not seek out ways to do so would be a sin of omission.
Further, as I ponder this accountability to compassion I had some thoughts as to how I, and possibly you, can start simply.
· Cook my husband’s favorite meal, to express gratitude for being “head-of-the-household”
· Spend an extra 30-minutes of uninterrupted, focused attention with my child(ren) this week, just to connect and bond
· Change out my husband’s clothing – put away winter things, pull out the spring and summer things
· Pack up a bag of unused clothing (from the sort above) and take them to the donation center
· Visit an elderly person in a nearby convalescent home
· Take a hot meal to a family with a loved one in the hospital or having to attend therapy or treatments of some type
· Volunteer to baby-sit for a couple who have no family in the immediate area
This list is by no means exhaustive; get creative, and have fun coming up with ways to express your compassion!
Sometimes, in the midst of our busy lives we forget to extend compassion to those in our own communities or more importantly to those living within the four walls we call home. We can start small by extending compassion to those most important to us and build up to broaden our circle of reach. It is all about a shift in the attitude of our heart and then putting feet to our faith.
I have been moved to think a lot about this word just lately. It started with a blog posting by Lysa TerKeurst. Since I read Lysa’s post requesting help for the children of Liberia, I have been praying about my level of compassion. I have been seeking God’s direction for how I can better utilize my spiritual gifts, my talents, and my abilities, to reach out to others in ‘compassion’ to share the great news of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ.
Then, my thinking and my heart were challenged yet again today by the sermon message at church entitled: “When the Holy Spirit Empowers the Church – Inspired to Influence,” which was presented by our youth pastor, Tom Buchanan. Our main scripture reference was, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 But the challenge of the day was simply this; “What are some of the things our church body, you and I, willing to do to make a difference for the cause of Christ? How can we reach out to show “compassion”?”
Personally, I have been kicking around an idea that I feel has been laid upon my heart by the Holy Spirit. I am still formulating a plan in my mind as to how I can utilize some of my talents, skills, abilities and spiritual gifts. I feel God gently urging me to use my talent for writing, my ability to take photographs, my skill at organization and desktop publishing, and my spiritual gift of teaching to develop a tool to focus attention on ways that people can be more compassionate. I may post more about this idea if I continue to feel that the idea is from God, and if He leads me to proceed.
However, no matter whether this ‘idea’ turns into a workable and doable thing or not, I know that I am called to reach out with compassion to share with others the love of Christ. I am realizing that although I do not always have the monetary means of expressing compassion and to meet expressed needs by providing $$ support, I can meet needs in other ways. In fact, for me to not seek out ways to do so would be a sin of omission.
Further, as I ponder this accountability to compassion I had some thoughts as to how I, and possibly you, can start simply.
· Cook my husband’s favorite meal, to express gratitude for being “head-of-the-household”
· Spend an extra 30-minutes of uninterrupted, focused attention with my child(ren) this week, just to connect and bond
· Change out my husband’s clothing – put away winter things, pull out the spring and summer things
· Pack up a bag of unused clothing (from the sort above) and take them to the donation center
· Visit an elderly person in a nearby convalescent home
· Take a hot meal to a family with a loved one in the hospital or having to attend therapy or treatments of some type
· Volunteer to baby-sit for a couple who have no family in the immediate area
This list is by no means exhaustive; get creative, and have fun coming up with ways to express your compassion!
Sometimes, in the midst of our busy lives we forget to extend compassion to those in our own communities or more importantly to those living within the four walls we call home. We can start small by extending compassion to those most important to us and build up to broaden our circle of reach. It is all about a shift in the attitude of our heart and then putting feet to our faith.
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