How I See Things...

I'm seeing things a little differently this Thanksgiving morning....

I went to the eye doctor yesterday and yes, it's time for bifocals...I was hoping that wouldn't happen until after the 40th birthday, but I handed over the debit card and paid for the new glasses I need...and I thought...be thankful...it's not that bad...at least you can still see, and so many people can't...at least you have eyes...and at least you have a job and an income and can pay for the things you need.

It's funny how we see things...especially this time of year. And my eyes have been opened more to what is going on around me, more than ever before. And I'm not talking about the eyes that wear the glasses...I'm talking about the eyes of my heart.

We see in so many different ways...on Monday night, I was driving home from the hospital with my friend whose dad had been taken to the ER - she was guiding me through the back streets of Charlottesville (I know very little about Charlottesville) and we came to a place in the road where we had two choices - straight ahead or turn. Now, this is where it gets interesting...because what I saw as "straight ahead or bear to the left (the road curved to the left)", she saw as "straight ahead or bear to the right". I asked "Which way do I go?" She said, "Keep straight". I almost went the wrong way. That's called perspective - we each have a different way of looking at a situation, and we laughed about it, and I said, "We'll be driving around all night at this rate - people will wonder where we are," and she said, "And we'll tell them it was because you don't know your right from your left".

PERSPECTIVE!

God opens the eyes of our hearts and allows us to see things His Way, when we spend time in His Word and know Him. And what's great about the people he puts in our lives is that when we aren't looking to Him for our vision, then they can point us in the right direction. And it's important to listen to each other and see where we're coming from so we know where we're going.

I am directionally challenged in many ways, but I know that I serve a God who has given me a roadmap for life, called The Bible. My earthly vision is blurred - physically, I can't see like I used to, and I can wear glasses to correct that. My spiritual vision gets blurred, too, and I have to go to my Heavenly Father for clarity. It's not about rules - it's about a relationship with a living Saviour. And I am humbled by His gift to me.

Love those around you today - love those that aren't around you today. And no matter how bad your circumstances seem, know you are not alone. God is there with you, and he hurts with you. When you weep, he is the one that holds you to His heart and weeps with you. Embrace that...embrace the Father. Be thankful that no matter what happens in this sin-filled world, that the God of the universe loves you and wants you to be His. And if you don't know Him through a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ, get to know Him. Find a Bible believing church to attend, find someone you know who is a Christian and ask them about this man named Jesus. Email me and I will tell you what He has done for my soul! (Psalm 66:16)

"For now we see through a glass, darkly: but then face to face: know I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." 1 Corinthians 13:12

The Shadow of the Almighty

I know, two posts in one day…have had a lot on my heart.

Psalm 91 has been very special to me in recent months as I have tried to allow God to move everything out of my life that comes between me and Him - so that I am only dependent on Him for everything in my life. No more idols…

Last week, I had to get up early one morning to be at work for an in-service, so I got up at 5 a.m. (yes…five o’clock does come twice a day…) and went to read my Bible and pray. It was still completely dark outside…the stars were amazingly bright…everything was asleep…the silence was very heavy but a good heavy. I read my devotionals and then proceeded to pray, and I had an experience I don’t think I have ever had before.

As I prayed in the silence blanketed by darkness, I felt the Lord in a way I never had before. I felt like He was right there over my right shoulder, and I could feel Him breathe on my attempt to be in His presence. I was afraid to move for fear that He would go away, but I also had a fear of Him being that close…not a bad fear, but one that reminded me that He knows my heart all of the time. It was such an experience that as I sit here and write about it and as I told my friend Dana last night, words cheapen it because there are no words to adequately describe it. It was like His Shadow covered me completely.

Last night at the concert, Bart Millard, lead singer of Mercy Me, said something that brought me right back to this experience. He said that in moments like that, you are afraid to move and afraid to breathe because He is so close…my heart went back to that moment and I could feel it again.

My prayer life suffers…I don’t pray enough and I don’t spend enough time with Him. I do things with the ministry and I do things with my church, but I don’t spend enough one on one time with Him. Keith Green once said, “Don’t get so caught up in the work of the Lord that you forget the Lord of the work”.

I need to remember that.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” Psalm 91:1

Mercy ME!

Last night I went to a Mercy Me concert at TRBC (for those of you from another planet, that’s Thomas Road Baptist Church :) ) and I was amazed at some things God taught me and showed me in that amount of time.

First of all, we got there, and decided to walk around to see what was going on, and ran into one of my best friends, Dana, and her husband and some folks that came with them. What a great time catching up and then having the opportunity to worship together! Love ya, Dana!

As the concert went on, I was convicted over and over again of how selfish and judgmental I can be when I should be compassionate and prayerful, especially for the lost. As the concert went on, the Spirit of the Lord was truly in that place, and it was an awesome worship experience. But Bart Millard, the lead singer for Mercy Me reminded us that concerts are great and as he said, we get the warm and fuzzies and we hug people we don’t know…but what do we do when we leave (fast forward to the parking lot after the concert - all the warm and fuzzies were gone and you were on your own!)? How do we treat each other when times are tough, when we are living only on the Spirit that lives in us? Do we love each other like we do when we are at a worship experience, or are we all about ourselves again and have tunnel vision?

Make your life a worship experience - make every breath you breathe be about praising Him and Him alone. I was reminded again last night that everything that happens is for His Glory…even the things that we think are awful, God will use got His glory. I have seen this evidenced in two people I know who are currently battling cancer. I watch people around me moan and groan and bellyache about every ache and pain they have - then I see these two people, so dependent on Christ for His healing power, however that might come, and they never complain. I watch them continue to come to church and praise God for the lives that He has given them, being uncertain of what might come as far as their health, but certain that Jesus is in every moment that they live, and they are assured of a place in Heaven with Him.

I have quietly watched them, and quietly learned.

I have also become so aware of the lost around me in the past couple of weeks, and how urgent it is to spread the Gospel - to live what I believe and show them that there is another way - The Only Way - and that is Jesus.

Let us continue to pray for God to change us moment by moment to be more like Him - and ask Him for the boldness required to live a life that is different…that shows…that completely belongs to Him.