Sitting in church today I began to ponder the perspective I have in life. I was sitting next to my friends 91 year old grandmother. We call her GGB: Great Grandma Bernie. As the service began with singing GGB and I sat there. I sang. She listened. Every now and again I would steal a glance at her face. Her eyes glistened with tears. Tears, not because she was sad, but rather tears for the precious moment she was taking part in.
If there is one thing I have learned over the years of helping take care of GGB, it's that time and age change one's perspective. GGB is nearing the point in life where she will one day soon get to meet her maker face to face. While she treasures her life here, her family and friends, her main focus is Him. Any aspect of life that puts our attention on eternity in Heaven, GGB is one step ahead of us. Why is that?
As we age we begin to think of what is to come. Death. For those who have a relationship with God, death is not the end but rather the beginning. Eternity awaits us. An eternity spent with the One who created the Heavens and the Earth. The Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and the End. Our Abba Father. Yahweh. Holy. My mind can't even begin to fathom how amazing that will be! But why do I need to wait until I am 91 to keep my focus there?
Over the summer I took part in a challenge to read through the Bible in a month. At one point I was here with GGB while I was doing my reading. That day, we read 100 chapters in the Psalms. Even as my voice tired from reading aloud, I couldn't stop. Why? I would look up from my reading to see GGB mouthing the words to the Psalms as I was reading. She would sit there with a small content smile on her face. Her hands would clasp from time to time and she would bring them close to her heart. A gentle tear would silently fall. Words cannot do justice to the picture in front of me. However I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that as those moments occur, she is seeing her Savior. She is finding herself at His feet, in awe of the love He bestows upon us.
I find myself from time to time in that same place: a place where I feel as though I am there at the feet of Christ as He sits on His throne in Heaven, just worshiping Him. When those moments occur I treasure them. Then as the day continues I forget all about them until another one takes place. My perspective is off. I find myself too caught up in the here and now that I loose sight of what really matters: Him.
I don't have an answer except to say our perspectives need to change. Our focus needs to remain on Him and living every moment for Him. Eternity needs to be more than just an after thought. Eternity is a gift we've been given. A gift we need to share with those around us. As we do, I have a feeling our perspectives will change. We'll begin to focus where we should: on Him.
I know there is so much more to this, but for now, this is all I have. After more pondering, I'll retouch this topic in the future!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Glory
Such a simple word, yet one that I will never think of in the same way after tonight.
In our Just Jesus service in the prison I got a front row seat to seeing the Glory of God at work. The night started off a little slow, so I pulled out my prayer journal and began praying. After a couple of minutes the whole evening changed. Ladies were coming up and sharing testimonies of what God was teaching them in their darkest of hours. The messages were so beautiful.
Honestly, it got me to thinking. These women are some of the most beautiful people you'll ever meet. At the same time, if you saw them on the street you more than likely wouldn't even look twice. Most of them are missing teeth, have tattoos all over, their hair is not healthy, they are not what society would call attractive. Yet God has changed these very women from the inside out. I walk in and receive a toothless smile that lights up the room. Why? Because that woman has found the unconditional never ending love of our Savior. What could possibly be more beautiful than that?
As the night progressed one of our ladies, Jennifer, got up to sing. She sang How Great Thou Art. I have never heard anything so beautiful. Tears streaming down her face, hands lifted high to her Abba, I watched her sing to her Daddy. She glowed. She was having that special intimate moment with her Father, and I was getting to witness it.
Later, Crystal, fell to her knees as we were singing the song Sweetly Broken. Tears fell down her cheeks as she praised God for what He did on the cross for her. Again, the beauty of a spirit completely broken and leaning upon the One and only one who reaches out to them with arms wide open. She was humbled by the gift of His grace in her life.
Jennifer came back up to share something she realized. She spoke so simply, yet so powerfully. Simply: we are God's glory. His glory is reflected in our lives as His creation. Our purpose is to bring Him glory. He designed us to do just that. So when He looks at us, He see's the beauty in us despite what others may see. Why? When we are His children we become a new creation in Him. He see's us through the blood of Christ. We are beautiful. We have the ability to bring Him the glory He deserves.
There were no dry eyes in the room. We were beautiful. God see's us a beautiful. The world may see us as ugly, toothless, fat, skinny, a cutter, a drug addict, an alcoholic, a prisoner, a screw-up, a lost cause. God saw us, loved us, sent His Son to give His life for us, accepted us, and see's us a beautiful. We were given the gift of being a reflection of His glory to the world around us. So the question becomes: How brightly are you shining?
In our Just Jesus service in the prison I got a front row seat to seeing the Glory of God at work. The night started off a little slow, so I pulled out my prayer journal and began praying. After a couple of minutes the whole evening changed. Ladies were coming up and sharing testimonies of what God was teaching them in their darkest of hours. The messages were so beautiful.
Honestly, it got me to thinking. These women are some of the most beautiful people you'll ever meet. At the same time, if you saw them on the street you more than likely wouldn't even look twice. Most of them are missing teeth, have tattoos all over, their hair is not healthy, they are not what society would call attractive. Yet God has changed these very women from the inside out. I walk in and receive a toothless smile that lights up the room. Why? Because that woman has found the unconditional never ending love of our Savior. What could possibly be more beautiful than that?
As the night progressed one of our ladies, Jennifer, got up to sing. She sang How Great Thou Art. I have never heard anything so beautiful. Tears streaming down her face, hands lifted high to her Abba, I watched her sing to her Daddy. She glowed. She was having that special intimate moment with her Father, and I was getting to witness it.
Later, Crystal, fell to her knees as we were singing the song Sweetly Broken. Tears fell down her cheeks as she praised God for what He did on the cross for her. Again, the beauty of a spirit completely broken and leaning upon the One and only one who reaches out to them with arms wide open. She was humbled by the gift of His grace in her life.
Jennifer came back up to share something she realized. She spoke so simply, yet so powerfully. Simply: we are God's glory. His glory is reflected in our lives as His creation. Our purpose is to bring Him glory. He designed us to do just that. So when He looks at us, He see's the beauty in us despite what others may see. Why? When we are His children we become a new creation in Him. He see's us through the blood of Christ. We are beautiful. We have the ability to bring Him the glory He deserves.
There were no dry eyes in the room. We were beautiful. God see's us a beautiful. The world may see us as ugly, toothless, fat, skinny, a cutter, a drug addict, an alcoholic, a prisoner, a screw-up, a lost cause. God saw us, loved us, sent His Son to give His life for us, accepted us, and see's us a beautiful. We were given the gift of being a reflection of His glory to the world around us. So the question becomes: How brightly are you shining?
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