The Secret

The secret to living a Jesus centered life is having Jesus at the center of your life. Okay so there isn’t a secret. Again, “the matter is quite simple, the Bible is very easy to understand…” – Soren Kierkegaard

Whisper

As I was praying for and thinking about so many of us that are waiting to hear God’s direction, I came across this today:

“I have faith that God will show you the answer. But you have to understand that sometimes it takes a while to be able to recognize what God wants you to do. That’s how it often is. God’s voice is usually nothing more than a whisper and you have to listen very carefully to hear it. But other times, in those rarest of moments, the answer is obvious and rings as loud as a church bell.” ― Nicholas Sparks

To hear a whisper we must be still and get away from distraction.

It can be dark in there.

We each so desire to be connected, I came across this statement from Bob Lefsetz (thank you Darren) and it really tells how the world around us feels.

“It’s dark inside my mind. Do you get that feeling? That there’s a plethora of stimuli surrounding you but there’s a force field between you and the rest of the universe? That you’re locked inside your head and you can’t break out? That no one understands you and you’re dying to make a connection but it’s impossible? I feel that way all the time. My whole life is about trying to eradicate this feeling, I’m trying to make a connection.”

We can be the solution if we will.

Seen the Father

I’ve been thinking a lot about the scripture where Christ says “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” He doesn’t seem to be saying, that in Him we can see some of the Father or a glimpse of the Father. It sounds like He’s telling us that if you want to see God, look here, if you want to know God look to me. Why do we so often think of Jesus as only a partial representation of God, or the nice part? I think Christ is the complete realization of God.

Happily Ever After

Is not the end, it’s the beginning of a new chapter. Sometimes it includes the passing of a particular difficulty or season but the next period will have its own challenges. Even heaven is a place of growth. There will always be more of God to know and understand. Getting this can help us better cope with today’s dragons. Let the slaying begin.

Telling him off

“When I think about satan, my thoughts go to how Jesus interacted with him in the desert. Jesus spoke with him for just a few seconds and then sent him away. Satan was a manipulator who wanted to control God, but Jesus had a relationship with God that satan didn’t understand, and Jesus had no problem telling him off and getting rid of him. I think we should do the same.

That’s all I have to say about satan. He gets too much airtime already.” – Bob Goff, Love Does

Nuff said.

Singular

The love that God has for us and thus the love we’re called to share with others is completely unique, one of a kind. Think about yourself for minute. If God loves you because He made you, does that fulfill your greatest need? What if His love is only because you received His Son or are part of some group? If that were the case for me I wouldn’t feel loved at all. I’d feel herded, insignificant, essentially unloved. Understanding this makes life the incredible adventure God intended. Imagine the significant opportunity of every encounter we have with each other. Consider the things to be shared and learned. Think of the joy or pain that doesn’t have to be experienced alone. That’s God’s love and we’re the ones that know it and get to share it.

More Less Me

Another area that we have a lot of trouble trusting God with is that He’s at work in those around us too. Why are we so quick to anger over other’s shortcomings? Why are we intolerant of those that are different than we are? Why are other people’s sins so much easier to talk about? Do we think the best of everyone first? Do we try to understand what might be going on in someone’s life before making a judgment based on what we are seeing in a particular moment or even season? Does doing these things make us feel better about ourselves or maybe even deflect attention from what might need to change in us?

…New Every Morning

With God there can be freshness to each moment. He makes all things new doesn’t mean one and done, it means even the things already changed are in the process of transformation. Understanding this allows us to avoid the ruts in life, gives us more compassion for the world and provides an appreciation for what is going on whether seen or unseen. Our frustrations can diminish and we get to come along folks and change together.

The Cross

In the times I feel like I’m not getting what I need or what I want, I get perspective back from the cross. I see Jesus there giving His all to me. How can I be truly be thankful for His ultimate sacrifice and ask for just a little more of whatever it is I think I’m lacking?