Clarity

"Without our knowing it, we see reality through glasses colored by the subconscious memory of previous experiences." No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton

In my best efforts, I have read the Bible, but a subconscious filter skewed the power of His Word. Through my past experiences, inevitable misconceptions and misunderstandings, God's powerful truth was lost. It is impossible to ignore the fact that our culture, upbringing and experiences color the picture we have of God. If our picture of God is skewed then we cannot experience His full power in our lives.

"The instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred--like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope." C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

The life lacking in God's power renders us ineffective.

The only way to combat this is to actively pray for truth and speak against deception that clouds our revelation of who God is. In my best human efforts, I cannot see God, but through God only, I begin to see Him with more clarity and the clouded glasses of deception begin to clear. I am frustrated when I try to reach God in my own efforts because no matter how good my intentions may be, it is an impossible task.

Pray for truth.

Speak against deception.

Only God can reveal Himself to us.

"Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your path

guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long." (Ps. 25_4-5)

"Faith looks out instead of in and the whole life falls into line." A.W. Tozer

The following is an excerpt from the book, "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer.  It is one of the best books I have ever read. 

This particular excerpt is talking about how when we change our gaze from inward self-improvement to an outward faithful gaze to Him, our lives will be transformed.   It just reminds me that even in my best efforts, I can never please God.  Even my attempts to be good and holy is insufficient.  Instead of becoming more like Him, I have set myself up as an idol against Him.      

"The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One.  While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him.  It will be God working in him to will and to do."

"Faith is redirecting our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus.  Sin has twisted our vision inward and made it self-regarding.  Unbelief has put self where God should be. and is perilously close to the sin of Lucifer who said I will set my throne above the throne of God. Faith looks out instead of in and the whole life falls into line. " A.W. Tozer

When the rain comes

 ²⁹ He stilled the storm to a whisper; 
       the waves of the sea were hushed.

Psalm 107:29

I took this picture when my family was in the Keys this past June.  

Since this picture, I have felt God warning me of a storm coming my way.  I kept trying to ignore the gentle warnings because who wants to hear that they they are getting ready to go int

o a difficult season of their life.  

I think a lot of people are walking through a storm right now though.  At first, we want to fight it and pray against the storm, that it will go away, but sometimes I think that God wants our re

sponse to be surrender and obedience.  Although it may break God's heart to see us in pain, he sees a bigger pictures and asks us to walk through the storm.  

In the midst of the rain and storms of life and sometimes the hurricanes, we experience God's reign in our lives like we can't experience when life is bright and sunny. 

So, I throw my hands up and stop fighting against it.  I walk down the narrow path that he leads me into and ask Him to help me be teachable and not fight against Him, so that I don't have to stay in the storm longer than need be.  

As my world clouds over and nothing seem

s to make sense, God becomes brighter and closer than ever before - He becomes my refuge and protection.  

The storm I feared becomes a place of sweet peace with my heavenly father.  I experience a closeness I did not experience when everything in life was sunny.   In the midst of the storm, He is near and His love is more evident and intimate than in the brightest moments of my life. 

I am reading Matthew 14:22-35 today. 

Pride and self-esteem - an ironic relationship

This is an excerpt from the book, "Praying God's Word" by Beth Moore.  It is an unbelievable book by the way. I use this book almost everyday during my daily devotions.  It is powerful. 

"Pride is not the opposite of low self-esteem Pride is the opposite of humility We can have a serious pride problem that masquerades as low self-esteem.  Pride is self-absorption whether we're absorbed with how miserable we are or how wonderful we are. "  Beth Moore

The death of earthly hope brings life to real hope

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

I didn't always understand what hope really meant in 1 Corinthians 13:13, but I knew it had to be important because it is one of three things that isn't going to burn away when all is said and done. I seem to so easily get caught up in the hopes in this earthly life, which are always fleeting and will inevitably disappoint again and again. I thrust my energy, talents and my everything into what doesn't matter-here today gone tomorrow type of hopes. And God wants me to stop floundering in empty hope and start thriving in His Hope, His Life.

My life has changed from living in a big city to moving to a very small town where I have not been able to find a job and my days seem to be pointless. This is where God has taught me to put my hope in Him. It has been good to get out of the routine and monotony of life because looking back I was going in circles and making no impact at all. Now, my hope has been renewed in Him. I realize that if my hope is rooted in God- in knowing Him better and loving Him more and sharing the hope that I have in Him with others, I will not be walking in circles any longer but fulfilling the hope which He has called me to. It is so easy to get away from that, but sometimes when disappointment comes in life, our hope is realized once again in Him and that is such a sweet place to be.

This video does a whole lot better job of discussing hope that I could ever "hope" to convey it. So, I will leave you with this from David Wilkerson at Times Square Church. It is worth the time to watch.

The following link will get you to the video and click on the sermon on "The Path to Hope"

The Path to Hope by David Wilkerson

Piecing it all together

So, this is the beginning of what I have been wanting to do for a while.  I am not sure where this will take us or what will come of it, but this is a collaboration of all things that inspire and lead me closer to God and I hope that it inspires you as well.   

I see this blog as being kind of like a patchwork quilt--a  piecing together of all of those resources that help us on our journey toward knowing God better.  I have always admired quilts. It's just something about piecing all of those ordinary squares of fabric together and creating something extraordinary, something beautiful.  I think that God is a lot like a quilt too. He is too big to be any one pattern, color or texture, but full of so many different facets and, as Christians, we spend our lives mending those together to see Him more clearly.   

So, with that said, I hope you enjoy this journey with me as I humbly seam together my reflections upon the beauty and depth of knowing Him.

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known." 

1 Corinthians 13:12