Are you aware that you carry my presence, and on that basis can be influential wherever you go, just by showing up? It is good for you to know this, but you don’t need to limit it to that. This presence is intensified when you speak up and interact with other people. Let your mouth speak my words of life, and let your hands heal and minister life. For you are my representatives; ambassadors of the
Are you familiar with the passage that says my word is living and powerful? Yet do you treat it as if it were dead and static? You treat most books as being frozen expressions of the thoughts of the author when they were written. Do you see my word as being in a different category? Living things must remain intact to remain alive. When they are dissected they are necessarily dead. Yet how many Christians like to extract their favorite verses from the Bible and consider them in isolation? Even if you regard every word as being true, none can be considered apart from the others and remain a living word.
Are you familiar with “IMHO” as “in my humble opinion”? This is the way things should be, but how many people do you know who are humble about their opinions? It is no compliment to say someone is opinionated. People are prone to attachments, and most of all to their own thoughts and conclusions. And other people of different opinions feel as strongly about theirs as you do about yours, and this is a source of strife. Recognize that your opinions are neither facts nor eternal truth. Therefore you should hold them lightly, knowing what they really are, and being teachable that you may release them when you encounter higher truth. Then you will honestly be able to refer to your opinions as humble.
My word promises that you can ask me for anything and get it. Does it seem that this concept could be viewed from a selfish perspective? Is it possible to view it from an unselfish perspective? You have real needs. If you want to be self-sufficient you are prone to worry and concern about providing for yourself. This is really the more selfish point of view for it keeps you absorbed in your own issues. If you come to me with your needs and trust me to meet them, then you can let them go and not be possessed by them. Then you can serve me from a larger perspective that doesn’t revolve around you.
Does the practice of your faith make you a better Christian? Church attendance, prayer and Bible study are common Christian practices. They are recognized for their own sake among believers, but those outside the church don’t care if you do them or not. They do care how you treat them; whether you are kind and generous and honest or not. You might say that these are qualities that make you a better person. Hopefully the things that make you a better Christian will also make you a better person, but it is important to understand which matters more. If your Christian practices don’t make you a better person, try some different practices that do.
Do you recall my promise to my disciples that I would go and prepare a place for them? This is one of my most widely known promises. Do you think it refers only to your eternal home in glory? It means that, but more besides. Do you understand that I prepare a place for you now? I know that you need provision here and now in addition to later. In fact, it is normal for you to need a series of places in progression before you arrive at the eternal one. If you feel restless it may be that I am preparing a new place for you and you need to be ready to transition to the new one. When this happens release the old one graciously even though I gave it to you.
Have you ever visited an art museum? These are places where creative expressions are brought together and put on display. Such places are popular but seldom crowded. Do you realize that you live in an art museum? For you are surrounded by my creative expressions wherever you go. Don’t let the fact that you don’t need to travel and pay admission diminish your appreciation of this. Have you heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Two people standing side by side and looking in the same direction will see different things. If your vision is transformed then you will see the beauty in my artwork everywhere you look.
You see people age and decline late in life. Do you ever wonder how this could be a part of my plan? Some people are diligent in doing their inner work of their own initiative; responding to my leading them to a transformed life. For those who choose not to respond voluntarily, these issues become unavoidable at this stage of life. Dependency and vulnerability produce humility. The loss of attractiveness and ability that are so highly prized in your superficial culture give the opportunity to ponder things that really matter. Even when your career is over there is still much to be transformed in your life. Can you see how even this is a part of my perfect plan?
What is your first response to a painful situation? Is your first impulse to run away, or to find someone to blame for it, or to see that you can learn from it? You may wonder whether I cause these difficulties for you or whether I allow them. They will come whether you resolve this question or not. Since trouble comes to all you might as well make the best of it. Let your curiosity be greater than your fear. Lessons learned in difficulty are retained well and provide a beneficial result to a situation that is otherwise only negative. Don’t waste your sorrows.
Speaking of my own generation I said that they were like children playing in a marketplace. We piped and you wouldn’t dance, we played a dirge and you wouldn’t mourn. I celebrated too much for my critics, but the same people thought John the Baptist was too austere. Have you noticed that some people are impossible to please? They can find fault with everything. If you are disposed to dislike something or someone, you can always find a way. But this is unrighteous judgment.
