"You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody."
2nd Corinthians 3:2
There are many kinds of letters: thank you notes, notes of encouragement, Dear John letters, sympathy cards, "get well soon" cards, letters of appreciation, Valentines notes, birthday cards.....the list goes on and on. In fact, Hallmark has made a very successful business out of the thousands of types of cards and letters that can be given.
Have you ever thought of yourself as a "letter from God"?
Me neither. Well, not until last week when this particular verse wedged its way into my heart.
The more I think about it, the more I believe that there is a lot more weight in this verse than we see at first. When we become followers of Christ, our lives, our behavior, our attitudes, our everything, are a letter from God to those around us. What does He want to say through us? I can guarantee that its not the vibe that I give off at times. You know that kind of day.....the "I'm running late from the moment I get up and have 4,000 extra interruptions to my already packed schedule and the computer gets a virus and crashes (or actually starts smoking in my case) and the kids climb up the cabinets and bomb the kitchen floor with cheerios and the dog has gastrointestinal issues from eating a sock out of the laundry" day.
What kind of "letter from God" am I then? To my family? To my friends? To the check-out clerk at Walmart?
My hope is that even after one of THOSE days, I would be a letter of kindness, of appreciation, of encouragement. A letter of godliness in the face of a dark world. Will I always meet that goal? No way. But at least now I know what the goal should be.
Showing posts with label In His Image. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In His Image. Show all posts
A Different Perspective
Yesterday I had an eye-opening encounter with my last piano student of the day. She was telling me that she had tried out for a movie that was going to be filmed locally, and she said, "Everyone who tried out was either a teenager or a young twenty-something adult. They said they needed some more older adults to try out....so I guess if you wanted to be in a movie, you could try out!"
NEWSFLASH:
Apparently, I am no longer considered a young adult. I am totally startled by this fact. I'm not sure that I'm over the shock yet.
Just to be sure that I understood her correctly, I checked with the other teacher who was in the room at the time. "Did you hear our conversation?" "Yes....all I can say for you is OUCH." So I guess loss of hearing is not to be blamed for my interpretation of the discussion.
Anyway, all of this started me thinking about perspective. Isn't life all about perspective? How do we see our lives from our own point of view? Are you a glass half-empty person? Or a glass half-full? A new Francesca Battistelli song ("This is the Stuff") talks about those daily things that keep our focus off of the bigger picture....and off of our great big God.
I have two friends who have both lost a child over the last three weeks. One who lost her 26 year old to a horrific car accident, and one who lost her newborn to a disease. Their life perspectives are forever changed. Their eternal perspectives are forever focused in a new direction.
One of the mothers recently said that she feels so cherished and so close to God - like she is resting right under his chin and hearing his heart beat - that she doesn't want the pain to end because she loves feeling that close to the breath of God. What a testimony in the face of grief.
This challenges me to look carefully at my life perspective in the coming weeks. Am I living life from my perspective...or from God's?
NEWSFLASH:
Apparently, I am no longer considered a young adult. I am totally startled by this fact. I'm not sure that I'm over the shock yet.
Just to be sure that I understood her correctly, I checked with the other teacher who was in the room at the time. "Did you hear our conversation?" "Yes....all I can say for you is OUCH." So I guess loss of hearing is not to be blamed for my interpretation of the discussion.
Anyway, all of this started me thinking about perspective. Isn't life all about perspective? How do we see our lives from our own point of view? Are you a glass half-empty person? Or a glass half-full? A new Francesca Battistelli song ("This is the Stuff") talks about those daily things that keep our focus off of the bigger picture....and off of our great big God.
I have two friends who have both lost a child over the last three weeks. One who lost her 26 year old to a horrific car accident, and one who lost her newborn to a disease. Their life perspectives are forever changed. Their eternal perspectives are forever focused in a new direction.
One of the mothers recently said that she feels so cherished and so close to God - like she is resting right under his chin and hearing his heart beat - that she doesn't want the pain to end because she loves feeling that close to the breath of God. What a testimony in the face of grief.
This challenges me to look carefully at my life perspective in the coming weeks. Am I living life from my perspective...or from God's?
I'm Back!!!
No, we still don't have a computer BUT God still answered my prayer in a very creative way!
It dawned on me as I was driving around town last week that the public library just put in a very nice computer lab this year! I get 55 minutes and then the computer shuts off so if I don't finish....just wait until tomorrow.....
On the way to my parents' house I was listening to a series by Chip Ingram (check out his podcasts on iTunes) and he was referring to Ephesians 5. So I pulled that out for a devotional time that night and couldn't get past the first verse.
"Be imitators of God." Ephesians 5:1
That's one of those verses that I've heard a million times, but I had never let it really sink in. And I was amazed when God started revealing to me exactly what that verse means....
God is Creative.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Gen 1:1
God created the ocean, the flowers, the animals...we cannot possibly fathom how much creativity it must have taken to make all of this stuff up! I get exhausted just trying to create a new game for my students. But we're to be like God...and God is VERY creative. So whether it's scrapbooking or photography or writing or painting or music, He has ordained us and asked us to be as creative as we possibly can - and to enjoy it!
God meets people where they are.
"Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert...and there the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush." Exodus 3:1-3
Moses was in the desert. He'd killed somebody and self-exiled himself and was now tending sheep on the FAR side of the desert. We can all relate to feeling so far away from everyone else. But God met him there...in a crazy burning bush no less. Apparently Moses had gotten so far away that God had to get his attention with something shocking. Sometimes I'm a little afraid of what shocking thing God will have to do to get my attention! But it's also true that God met Moses where he was, and that we can apply that to the people we know. We may have to get off the express train that whisks us from activity to activity in our lives, and stop for a 'divine appointment' with someone who really needs our help and doesn't know how to ask.
God grants Peace.
"The Lord blesses His people with peace." Psalm 29:11
Peace. How often does your life really feel peaceful? There are family members dying of cancer, children with physical and emotional difficulties, friends who are struggling in marriages or careers, telemarketers or customers who chew people out...we all know the list goes on and on.
But God grants us peace. And if we are to be like Him, then it would stand to reason that we also need to grant others peace. Taking the time to talk to our friends or family who are hurting, doing our best to be kind to the mean telemarketers, giving a sandwich to the homeless guy at the post office. God calls us to be peacemakers. And in truth, that's probably easier to do for those we don't know as well, as it is for those closest to us when we've had a bad day dealing with all of the un-peace in the world and we come home and 'vent' to our families.
Continue to let God reveal to you the special ways that we are 'made in His image'. And let me know what you come up with!
Blessings!
It dawned on me as I was driving around town last week that the public library just put in a very nice computer lab this year! I get 55 minutes and then the computer shuts off so if I don't finish....just wait until tomorrow.....
On the way to my parents' house I was listening to a series by Chip Ingram (check out his podcasts on iTunes) and he was referring to Ephesians 5. So I pulled that out for a devotional time that night and couldn't get past the first verse.
"Be imitators of God." Ephesians 5:1
That's one of those verses that I've heard a million times, but I had never let it really sink in. And I was amazed when God started revealing to me exactly what that verse means....
God is Creative.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Gen 1:1
God created the ocean, the flowers, the animals...we cannot possibly fathom how much creativity it must have taken to make all of this stuff up! I get exhausted just trying to create a new game for my students. But we're to be like God...and God is VERY creative. So whether it's scrapbooking or photography or writing or painting or music, He has ordained us and asked us to be as creative as we possibly can - and to enjoy it!
God meets people where they are.
"Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert...and there the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush." Exodus 3:1-3
Moses was in the desert. He'd killed somebody and self-exiled himself and was now tending sheep on the FAR side of the desert. We can all relate to feeling so far away from everyone else. But God met him there...in a crazy burning bush no less. Apparently Moses had gotten so far away that God had to get his attention with something shocking. Sometimes I'm a little afraid of what shocking thing God will have to do to get my attention! But it's also true that God met Moses where he was, and that we can apply that to the people we know. We may have to get off the express train that whisks us from activity to activity in our lives, and stop for a 'divine appointment' with someone who really needs our help and doesn't know how to ask.
God grants Peace.
"The Lord blesses His people with peace." Psalm 29:11
Peace. How often does your life really feel peaceful? There are family members dying of cancer, children with physical and emotional difficulties, friends who are struggling in marriages or careers, telemarketers or customers who chew people out...we all know the list goes on and on.
But God grants us peace. And if we are to be like Him, then it would stand to reason that we also need to grant others peace. Taking the time to talk to our friends or family who are hurting, doing our best to be kind to the mean telemarketers, giving a sandwich to the homeless guy at the post office. God calls us to be peacemakers. And in truth, that's probably easier to do for those we don't know as well, as it is for those closest to us when we've had a bad day dealing with all of the un-peace in the world and we come home and 'vent' to our families.
Continue to let God reveal to you the special ways that we are 'made in His image'. And let me know what you come up with!
Blessings!
What you can learn at an Deep South Plantation...
We're in Mississippi this week visiting family and today decided to take a day trip to Natchez to visit some of the old plantation homes.
We ended up at Longwood Plantation. Longwood is a six-story plantation home that is GORGEOUS...as you can see in the picture. As soon as you walk inside, though, it is readily apparent that the awesome six-story home....isn't finished. In fact, only the basement was completed before the owner lost his multi-millions in the Civil War. So his family lived in the basement with the main five floors never completed. As you can see, it looks completed on the outside, but if you walk inside the door, all you will see is subflooring, brick walls, and very rickety looking 2x4's everywhere. It is on the National Historical Register, so it will never have the opportunity to be completed as the owner wanted it to be.
What a disappointment for the owner to reach the end of his life and realize he was never able to complete what would have been a beautiful accomplishment. Which leads to something that I've been considering over the last few weeks....
How many of us will reach the end of our lives, only to realize that we never used even half of the gifts and talents that God gave us.
Ephesians says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ."
In Matthew's Parable of the Talents, a man entrusts his servants with "talents" before leaving on a long journey, "each according to his own ability (25:15)".
Consider the word 'talent' as being the gifts and abilities that God gives us that are unique to each of us and suddenly this passage that I've read hundreds of times has a whole new meaning.
16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
21His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
22The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
23His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
24Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 26His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
How many people will reach the end of their lives and realize that they've "hidden their talents" in the ground and not used them the way God intended. Or that they've used one of the talents, but left 3 others completely unexplored.
So perhaps you'll ask the question I was asking at the beginning of this summer...how do I know what talents God wants me to use?
I'm definitely not at the end of this journey yet, but one thing I have definitely learned over the last two months...talents are the things that you can look back in your life and recognize those areas that you felt unexplained JOY in doing.
I've been playing the piano since I was 3 years old....as long as I can physically remember. And I've made a career out of playing and teaching the piano...I've developed and used that talent the best way that I know how.
But in the last year, I've had the distinct feeling that I was missing out on something...that there was more, but I just didn't know how to reach out and grab it. So I started thinking about moments in my life that caused me unexplained joy. Suddenly I realized how much I missed writing. I LOVE writing. So this blog is my venture into trying to develop that 'gift.' I also LOVED graphic design in high school. I co-edited the yearbook, spent hours doing lay-outs on the computer, and worked at the town's newspaper doing ad lay-outs after school. So I've ventured into photography and web design this summer in an effort to develop those skills more.
And you know what...I find myself completely and totally excited about everything I'm doing! I feel like I have a new lease on life...and I truly believe that is a direct result of "putting those talents to work" that God has given me. And I hope and pray that these talents will glorify the Owner...just as those who invested did in the parable.
Just as God always does, He has re-affirmed these thoughts by causing me to 'randomly' pick up a Max Lucado book called Cure for the Common Life. EVERYONE should read this book. God is reaffirming on every page that He has given us gifts that show up even in the earliest years of life. And that by identifying and using those gifts, we can live lives of joy and freedom.
So pick up the Lucado book at the library and get ready for a life-changing experience. I pray that you will discover and develop the gifts that are unique to you and experience the greatest life possible - and hear God say at the pearly gates that you were faithful with what He so graciously gave you on this earth.
We ended up at Longwood Plantation. Longwood is a six-story plantation home that is GORGEOUS...as you can see in the picture. As soon as you walk inside, though, it is readily apparent that the awesome six-story home....isn't finished. In fact, only the basement was completed before the owner lost his multi-millions in the Civil War. So his family lived in the basement with the main five floors never completed. As you can see, it looks completed on the outside, but if you walk inside the door, all you will see is subflooring, brick walls, and very rickety looking 2x4's everywhere. It is on the National Historical Register, so it will never have the opportunity to be completed as the owner wanted it to be.
What a disappointment for the owner to reach the end of his life and realize he was never able to complete what would have been a beautiful accomplishment. Which leads to something that I've been considering over the last few weeks....
How many of us will reach the end of our lives, only to realize that we never used even half of the gifts and talents that God gave us.
Ephesians says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ."
In Matthew's Parable of the Talents, a man entrusts his servants with "talents" before leaving on a long journey, "each according to his own ability (25:15)".
Consider the word 'talent' as being the gifts and abilities that God gives us that are unique to each of us and suddenly this passage that I've read hundreds of times has a whole new meaning.
16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
21His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
22The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
23His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
24Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 26His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
How many people will reach the end of their lives and realize that they've "hidden their talents" in the ground and not used them the way God intended. Or that they've used one of the talents, but left 3 others completely unexplored.
So perhaps you'll ask the question I was asking at the beginning of this summer...how do I know what talents God wants me to use?
I'm definitely not at the end of this journey yet, but one thing I have definitely learned over the last two months...talents are the things that you can look back in your life and recognize those areas that you felt unexplained JOY in doing.
I've been playing the piano since I was 3 years old....as long as I can physically remember. And I've made a career out of playing and teaching the piano...I've developed and used that talent the best way that I know how.
But in the last year, I've had the distinct feeling that I was missing out on something...that there was more, but I just didn't know how to reach out and grab it. So I started thinking about moments in my life that caused me unexplained joy. Suddenly I realized how much I missed writing. I LOVE writing. So this blog is my venture into trying to develop that 'gift.' I also LOVED graphic design in high school. I co-edited the yearbook, spent hours doing lay-outs on the computer, and worked at the town's newspaper doing ad lay-outs after school. So I've ventured into photography and web design this summer in an effort to develop those skills more.
And you know what...I find myself completely and totally excited about everything I'm doing! I feel like I have a new lease on life...and I truly believe that is a direct result of "putting those talents to work" that God has given me. And I hope and pray that these talents will glorify the Owner...just as those who invested did in the parable.
Just as God always does, He has re-affirmed these thoughts by causing me to 'randomly' pick up a Max Lucado book called Cure for the Common Life. EVERYONE should read this book. God is reaffirming on every page that He has given us gifts that show up even in the earliest years of life. And that by identifying and using those gifts, we can live lives of joy and freedom.
So pick up the Lucado book at the library and get ready for a life-changing experience. I pray that you will discover and develop the gifts that are unique to you and experience the greatest life possible - and hear God say at the pearly gates that you were faithful with what He so graciously gave you on this earth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)