Tag: reflect

Zipping Your Lips

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Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Philippians 2:14-15

What are God’s purposes for you on this earth? To glorify Him, and you cannot do that while complaining.

You’ll also live caught in the web of self-condemnation, probably in a bad mood most of the time when your speech is perverse.

Subsequently, your witness for God is tarnished.

Sends others off screaming in the other direction.

So how do we glorify God when we feel like complaining?

We praise him anyway.

We choose to push aside the complaining thoughts, praising God instead. Even if.

When we choose to continue trusting God as life tempts us to sour – that’s when our witness shines. That’s when God’s transformation of our very selves shines brighter.

It’s how the world sees the difference God makes in our lives.

So if we choose to complain every time things go south, we’re absolutely no different from the world.

They complain, too.

But if instead you choose praising God in the midst, choosing to trust him instead of your circumstances, you’ll show the world how good God is.

How trustworthy He remains. How much better off you are with Him by your side. How much you need Him as life often deals badly.

Your purpose on this earth is to glorify God, reflecting Him to others.

Draw them today, instead of leading them away.

Photos by Kristina Flour, Jelleke Vanooteghem, Richard Bell, & Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash

Time to Pause

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Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7

Stop walking forward.

Pause, just for a moment.

Sometimes we push forward, forgetting to look behind us.

To remember. To refocus. To pause.

While you’re stopped, look around.

What do you see?

There are little bits of glory all around you.

Bursts of God’s miracles in your life.

The awe of creation.

The miracle of life.

Things that make you smile, because God knows you.

Now look behind you.

Do you see God’s faithfulness over the years?

There’s a long line of proof God has walked with you.

Some of it is easy to see, other parts are not.

Looking back should re-anchor your feet as your heart fills with hope again.

Hope as you dwell within the promise of God’s continued faithfulness.

Now look forward.

Do you see the hills and valleys laid out before you?

Or maybe you see a mountain, and you’re not sure what waits beyond.

As you keep God’s faithfulness from the past in your heart, reach out and grab His hand.

You are surrounded by God and all He has done for you.

His faithfulness will remain as you continue to seek Him for your future.

Stop, notice, and remember.

As you reflect often, God will continually fill you with His goodness as you purpose to walk with Him alone.

You might face mountains.

You might face valleys.

But as you take God’s hand, remembering His complete faithfulness, you’ll confidently continue forward.

Why? Because God’s faithfulness is never-ending.

Pause. Notice. And keep moving forward with God.

Photos by Joyce G on Unsplas

Wearing Him

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How do you wear Jesus?

Does your face reflect His peace?

Do your eyes reflect His love?

Are your lips proclaiming His faithfulness?

Is your spirit praising His worthiness?

Is your mind focused on Him?

Aligning your will to His?

Wearing Jesus looks different from one person to the next as we are all created as unique individuals.

Since we are all created in the image of God, reflecting Him will ultimately look similar: peace, joy, love, and patience.

Do you invite Him to cover you with Himself?

Every day?

Each moment?

He will. We beg to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

That’s what He asks of us while soldiering on in this earth.

But that means more than having a servant’s heart.

More than thinking of others before ourselves.

Means aligning your very self with His.

Keeping a running conversation with Him, acknowledging His sovereignty.

And praising Him all the live long day.

Do you thank Him randomly for anything?

You should. Let’s start. Thank you, God, for the sweet air I breathe.

Thank you for the sunshine on my face and the coffee in my pot.

When you praise Him, the devil hates it.

He tends to run when hearing God’s name praised.

Hallelujah! The devil can’t run away from me fast enough.

Am I right?

Wear Jesus well. Show Him to the world. It might be their only glimpse.

Photos by Ben White, Mehdi MeSSrro, Redd, Nathaniel Chia, & Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Ugliness

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Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

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We are so comfortable with our ugliness, aren’t we?

Our fleshly irritations.

Our selfish demands.

Our ‘higher than thou’ attitudes towards all else.

Our complaining when sacrificing.

Our responses when wronged.

Ugliness.

Does your ugliness repulse you?

When it rears it’s ugly head, do you embrace it?

Honestly, we usually do, don’t we.

We not only embrace it, but wear it proudly.

All boils down to flesh and sin.

Our flesh cries out selfishly.

But God wants us to respond differently.

It’s so hard, isn’t it?

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“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Those words from Paul in Galatians 5 remind us to put away our flesh.

To literally kill those fleshly desires that are ugly.

Impossible apart from God.

Literally.

When we purposely put down our ugly flesh, God will fill us with His Spirit.

You remember His fruit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Isn’t it so much better to reflect kindness than malice?

Gentleness instead of anger?

Love instead of hate?

Peace instead of war?

Folks, we can either react with the fruit of God or the flesh of ourselves.

One is lovely, the other is ugly.

Stop the next time you face an irritation.

Ask God to react through you.

Each time you do that, your ugliness will melt away.

I know, it’s not as fun as feeding your flesh.

But wouldn’t you rather please God than your sinful self?

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Photos by Cain, Korpa, Nohassi, Boer, & Gonzalez on Unsplash

Be the Light

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Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

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Be the Light.

How?

How are we to be the Light of the world?

By reflecting Jesus.

By reflecting His love, His goodness, His mercy, and grace.

By telling people the good news.

When we reflect Jesus, we become lights in our world.

For Him.

When we enter a room filled with His peace,

That room is never the same.

Not because of us,

But because of Him.

Jesus.

When we soak a thirsty soul with truth, His truth,

That soul is never the same.

When we provide a hungry soul, desperate for solid food, absolute truth from God,

The meat from God fills that soul’s deepest aching need.

When we are God’s light to others,

The world is not the same.

Every interaction, becomes Jesus to them.

Every thought becomes a prayer immediately shared before the Lord.

Every time.

Try.

And when you do, you will be a vessel through which God’s light will shine upon every deepest darkest corner of this great big world.

Try to never leave a room as it was when you entered.

With God’s help, leave it even better.

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Unsplash photos by Kari Shea & Matheus Kohler