God-Stencilled

Here is a video I stumbled across called "The Glint" that talks about how, as humans, we put a piece of ourselves into the things we make. When God made us, it was the same concept except that he never needed us for his legacy to carry on; it is simply another way for him to show how wonderful and glorious he is--by letting us use the gifts he has given for his glory and the betterment of his kingdom.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ~Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)

God made us in his image, but not physically being that God holds no human form (Jesus was not the basis of our physiology but rather subject to it). We are instead made to represent God in our spiritual, mental and physiological constitutions. God made us to think like him in a very natural way, so if we just put our efforts into becoming more God-like or Christ-like, everything we would need to accomplish that would become evident.

"Man's intellectual gifts are further seen in his ability to design things and then make them, to appreciate beauty, to compose glorious music, to paint pictures, to write, to count to large numbers and do mathematics, to control and use energy for his own benefit (e.g. fire, electricity, nuclear power), to organize, to reason, to make decisions, to be self-conscious, to laugh at himself, and to think abstractly. All this behaviour is non-instinctive, as distinct from animal behaviour, and as such it is of unlimited variety...God endowed man with intellectual ability which was and is far superior to that of any animal. Thus man was given a mind capable of hearing and understanding God's communication with him, emotions capable of responding to God in love and devotion, and a will which enabled him to choose whether or not to obey God. Man was thus equipped, not only to 'love God and obey Him for ever', but also to do God's work on earth" ~Russell M. Grigg

God's Eyes

"When you see through God’s eyes, you will see the invisible" ~Ayobola Fafiolu

We've got God's undivided attention. God is omnipresent, so he is a part of everyone's life...at the same time! He is always listening to us as though we were the only human beneath him. He sees every person no matter how the world sees them. For us to be God's eyes, we need to see people as God created them to be, not as the world has made them. Everyone was created to praise the Maker, and everyone has the potential to use what he has given in order to do so.

Eyes

Eyes are perspective.

Perspective is opinion.

Opinion is thought.

Thought is change.

Change is life.

God is life.

See God.

This (link here) is a fictional short story I wrote about a man who comes to the understanding that even in his perfect life, he needs to see the world through God's eyes to truly see it at all.

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. ~Hebrews 4:13 (ESV)

  

Reality

Reality might be multiple:

Reality is multiple.

Make the best of your current reality,

Close your eyes when you get dizzy, and

See God anyway.

See him because he is real.

God is reality.

 "Eyes" & "Reality" poems by Nathan Titchenal.

Everyday Welkin

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. ~Job 2:10 (ESV)

There is nothing new under the sun. While Job was suffering, the rest of the world was going on as normal, and yet he never said a bad word about God. This is all to say that suffering is not something we should hate, because in every circumstance there is something to praise God for. Even then, how much worse could Job's suffering have been compared to anything we might face in this lifetime?

On the other side of things, I would just like to encourage the thought that when we are not suffering, we might consider looking at life that way anyway. It can be way too easy sometimes to remember God in our suffering...and to forget him in our complacency. Every day we should be striving to make it a new challenge, not dwelling on our past struggles/mistakes and not relying on our past victories, for even a victory can lead to comfortable, complacent confidence. The sun will always be looking down upon us from it's place in the heavens, and everything we do has been done before. We've simply got to wake up every morning and place our hope in God, for only he can help us put down our monsters-of-the-day and continue living for him.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. ~Zechariah 4:10 (NLT)

Resolve : Resolve

"I used to see the New Year as a chance to reset, but truthfully God gives us the chance to reset all the time!" ~Lecrae

While considering a New Year's resolution (something I've never been too big on anyway), I realized that resolutions are something I need to make every day, not just on New Year's. If we simply take a moment every morning to reflect on how we can make the day worth God's while, who knows where we could be in a year! It doesn't even matter if we are going through hell, as long as we keep the Lord in our sights and try to keep a joyful attitude, God will find a way to use our day to better his kingdom. Let's make a New Year's resolution to wake up each morning asking God how he would have us change ourselves today; a resolution of resolutions!

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ~Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

Drive On

The future is always before us, and God has given us gifts and abilities--tools to be able to build that future into something worthwhile. The height of foolishness is to use our God-given gifts for our own benefit and enjoyment. God's plan for you is no more matured if you are using your enjoyment of reading to delve into secular adventure stories or play an instrument for musical appreciation. As long as we are still alive and breathing, God has a plan for us; if we are still here on earth (aren't we still?), God has something for you to do, something specific. It is your duty as a child of God to chisel the snow from the road so that you can see its lead and drive safely on, into the distance!

P.S. God won't mind if you stop at the gas station for some Happy Holidays and a few desserts along the way!

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ~1Corinthians 12:4-7 (ESV)

"Mucho" HATE "Para Poco" SIN

Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. ~Psalm 97:10 (NIV)

Something good is different than something pleasurable. Sin is very pleasurable, and if you have ever convinced yourself that sin can be good for you as long as it's not permanent, then it could dig you a pretty deep hole. When we give in to sin, it consumes us and we try to enjoy it while we can. My prayer is that God will constantly help me to see the sin for what it is and to hate it before I take any samples.

"Giving into sin, and calling it love--it's a dangerous run, a gravity bomb." ~I Am Empire

Wise guy ;)

 

Most to be Pitied

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. ~Zechariah 4:10 (NLT)

Wow. I was just reading Romans 4 where it says "blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin." That's crazy to think of in light of all I've done to hurt him. As it says in 1 Corinthians 15:19, we as humans are most to be pitied--in this life we have no hope. Our only hope lies in the taking up of God's offer to forgive and comfort us in our troubles, and while we can place our hope in him for getting through this life, we must also acknowledge the hope of the life after, for it will be more glorious a day than any we might see here.

The cry of every long-suffered heart and tired soul

Wakes to see the light of heaven's glory shone, of grace untold

And the depths of human trials [will be] taken up by the great I Am

Unto the cry of a desperate man

When the morning star sang out into the world on that day

And the son of God laid out before our eyes to pave the way

Into this broken home he spread his arms, what’s better than

Any cry of a desperate man?

~"The Cry of a Desperate Man" (song by NET)