Feelings,
they are just that; feelings...not inherently good or bad, but how we choose to respond to them makes them one or the other. What we choose to do with them also reveals much about our character.
Our feelings, inextricably linked to our emotions, are the basis for some pretty bone head moves...at least in my life.
It's pretty crazy, that in one instance, we can make a decision based on a feeling that can potentially change our lives forever.
The beauty of this discussion is in that, when we look at God and his actions, it's pretty apparent that;
God does things based on who He is, not on how He feels.
It's his character that motivates his decision making not how he happens to feel at a particular moment...and since He is perfect in all His ways, what He does is perfect.
You may not agree with that statement, but here's what I want you to grab hold of as you read this post...
What if we could learn to do things based on who He is, not on how we feel?
What would our lives be like if we could measure every decision based on the person and character of God instead of knee-jerk reactions to external stimuli...?
I know, I know, imperfect people will always make imperfect decisions says the fatalistic among us, but what if...what if we could learn to live, essentially immersed in the person and character of God?
What if we actually let the power of God transform our flawed character...? Of course we will never reach perfection on this side of Heaven, but man! Can you grasp that?
His character, his essence, becoming so influential in our lives that we adopt an entirely counter intuitive approach to life. So that we, like the apostle Paul can say: "...whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ..."
Jesus...to know Him, to be like Him...to take this thing we call faith and actually live it out, purposefully, intentionally, consistently...wow!
I think I just blew my mind!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Sensory Recall
It has always boggled my mind at how memories are attached to smells...
our brain, that amazing lump of mush, nestled safe behind the bulk of our skull, sends out these little electronic impulses whenever a particular smell happens to waft through the air in our general vicinity, recalling joys and pains of days gone by.
Today it is the smell of plywood burning as a saw cuts through its length and breadth.
I love that smell. It reminds me of spending time with my grandfather...
If you know me, you know that my grandfather is one of the most important and influential people in my life.
That smell of burning plywood and the whine of a circular saw, reminds me of countless hours spent working on some little project in his wood shop or garage.
I love those times with him. Not only do I love them for the things we created and the time we spent, but for the knowledge and wisdom I gained from just being around him.
One such nugget of wisdom mined out of conversation with my grandfather is to always make sure that my energy and activity finds its source in my relationship with Jesus.
For instance, when fall rolls around, it brings a sense of security, with its predictable routine and schedule of activity.
Danger also lurks there in that daily routine. In our going and coming and doing, we are lured into this false sense of security, that with well scheduled and predictable routine comes order. The opposite is almost inevitably true. Because deep beneath the surface of our serene exterior lies a maelstrom of conflict and chaos.
You see, we often mistake our busyness for growth and productivity when it comes to our relationship with Christ. When in reality, we allow the activity to replace the relationship, and we find ourselves in this spiritual wasteland, starving for the very thing we think we are achieving through work or effort.
Relationship never flows out of activity that occurs purely for activities sake.
Our activity has to flow out of our relationship with Christ. It is there that we find our rhythm and rhyme. Without Him, we are like a leaf tossed on the wind of circumstance, going wherever the storms of life blow us, purposeless and angry. Because no matter how much we achieve, or think we achieve, it is empty and meaningless unless God is the originator.
So grab yourself a hand saw or some beefy cutting tool and go to work on the plywood of your life and allow Christ to burn some meaningful memories into your soul as he guides your hands through the busyness of the day.
our brain, that amazing lump of mush, nestled safe behind the bulk of our skull, sends out these little electronic impulses whenever a particular smell happens to waft through the air in our general vicinity, recalling joys and pains of days gone by.
Today it is the smell of plywood burning as a saw cuts through its length and breadth.
I love that smell. It reminds me of spending time with my grandfather...
If you know me, you know that my grandfather is one of the most important and influential people in my life.
That smell of burning plywood and the whine of a circular saw, reminds me of countless hours spent working on some little project in his wood shop or garage.
I love those times with him. Not only do I love them for the things we created and the time we spent, but for the knowledge and wisdom I gained from just being around him.
One such nugget of wisdom mined out of conversation with my grandfather is to always make sure that my energy and activity finds its source in my relationship with Jesus.
For instance, when fall rolls around, it brings a sense of security, with its predictable routine and schedule of activity.
Danger also lurks there in that daily routine. In our going and coming and doing, we are lured into this false sense of security, that with well scheduled and predictable routine comes order. The opposite is almost inevitably true. Because deep beneath the surface of our serene exterior lies a maelstrom of conflict and chaos.
You see, we often mistake our busyness for growth and productivity when it comes to our relationship with Christ. When in reality, we allow the activity to replace the relationship, and we find ourselves in this spiritual wasteland, starving for the very thing we think we are achieving through work or effort.
Relationship never flows out of activity that occurs purely for activities sake.
Our activity has to flow out of our relationship with Christ. It is there that we find our rhythm and rhyme. Without Him, we are like a leaf tossed on the wind of circumstance, going wherever the storms of life blow us, purposeless and angry. Because no matter how much we achieve, or think we achieve, it is empty and meaningless unless God is the originator.
So grab yourself a hand saw or some beefy cutting tool and go to work on the plywood of your life and allow Christ to burn some meaningful memories into your soul as he guides your hands through the busyness of the day.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Have a Coke and a smile...
One of my favorite childhood memories is of summertime and a 16oz bottle of ice cold Coca-Cola. My friends and I would be out riding our bicycles in the heat of the day and come roaring up to the house and my mom would call out..."Anyone want a Coke?" We'd very nearly tear the screen door off it's hinges just to be the first one to grab the bottle opener!
Then we'd purse our lips up to those frosty cold goblets of delicious brown elixir and instantly be transported into another world...You know, the one where those green tinted hourglass shaped bottles had the ability to transform a rag tag band of down and outters into a harmoniously unified group of happy smiling people, singing, "I'd like to teach the world to sing...in perfect harmony..." and Coke did all of that. Amazing! Well, that's not exactly what it did for us, but it sure did (does) taste good on a hot summer's day.
Recalling memories like that is fun. And I think, in some cases, provides some much needed perspective on the world in which we live. Actually, what the simplicity of childhood memories can do is give us clarity in a world full of mass confusion.
We have taken, what used to be crystal clear; things like our dreams and plans, our motives and our ideals, and allowed the world around us to convolute and confuse those things that used to be crystal clear to the point that we're not even sure if we believe what we think we believe anymore.
The answer to that conundrum is more easily deduced than we dare believe...nay, you might even call it simplistic, however, it works.
Clarity, that most desired of commodities, is found when we focus on the end instead of the unknown.
The beauty of that perspective lies in the memory of things we know, (or once knew), to be true. Like the frosty cool delight of a carbonated beverage...the reality that God is madly in love with us and wants to know us, though often drowned in the litany of details in our day, nonetheless, remains true.
We must hold on to those foundational realities that too often get swept away by things like popular opinion because we cannot or will not sift through the minutia that grinds against the truth until it becomes unrecognizable to us. We must hold on to those foundational realities, those things that God has said He is or will do, because it is in those things that we can find clarity in the midst of confusion.
One of my favorite passages of scripture,which i posted as a status update a few days ago says:
"We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be cancelled."
"We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in to a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long until the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as He knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love." (I Cor. 13:9,10, 12,13)
And that my friends is the end that gives us clarity, even when much is unknown.
I think I'll go grab myself a Coke.
Then we'd purse our lips up to those frosty cold goblets of delicious brown elixir and instantly be transported into another world...You know, the one where those green tinted hourglass shaped bottles had the ability to transform a rag tag band of down and outters into a harmoniously unified group of happy smiling people, singing, "I'd like to teach the world to sing...in perfect harmony..." and Coke did all of that. Amazing! Well, that's not exactly what it did for us, but it sure did (does) taste good on a hot summer's day.
Recalling memories like that is fun. And I think, in some cases, provides some much needed perspective on the world in which we live. Actually, what the simplicity of childhood memories can do is give us clarity in a world full of mass confusion.
We have taken, what used to be crystal clear; things like our dreams and plans, our motives and our ideals, and allowed the world around us to convolute and confuse those things that used to be crystal clear to the point that we're not even sure if we believe what we think we believe anymore.
The answer to that conundrum is more easily deduced than we dare believe...nay, you might even call it simplistic, however, it works.
Clarity, that most desired of commodities, is found when we focus on the end instead of the unknown.
The beauty of that perspective lies in the memory of things we know, (or once knew), to be true. Like the frosty cool delight of a carbonated beverage...the reality that God is madly in love with us and wants to know us, though often drowned in the litany of details in our day, nonetheless, remains true.
We must hold on to those foundational realities that too often get swept away by things like popular opinion because we cannot or will not sift through the minutia that grinds against the truth until it becomes unrecognizable to us. We must hold on to those foundational realities, those things that God has said He is or will do, because it is in those things that we can find clarity in the midst of confusion.
One of my favorite passages of scripture,which i posted as a status update a few days ago says:
"We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be cancelled."
"We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in to a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long until the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as He knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love." (I Cor. 13:9,10, 12,13)
And that my friends is the end that gives us clarity, even when much is unknown.
I think I'll go grab myself a Coke.
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