Friday, June 24, 2022

Watch Where You're Sitting

 

(from thespruce.com)

When you’re enjoying a walk through the woods or traipsing through a park, no matter how tired you become, you always want to watch where you sit. Whether you’re resting on a rock, or plopping onto the ground, or sitting on a park bench, check to make sure you’re not sitting on or in something undesirable.

Once, while hiking through Palmer Park, I leaned against a rock, then slithered down to land on a ledge to rest. I made the colossal mistake of not watching where I sat. I quickly leapt from the rocky ledge as cactus needles pierced my backside. Lesson learned. I always look first, now.

Have you ever sat in a seat that was reserved for someone else, only to suffer the embarrassment of being asked to move? Have you ever had to settle for sitting in the back of the room at an event you were excitedly anticipating, and felt the rush of excitement when someone came to invite you to the front, where there just happened to be an open seat?

(from grammarflip.com)

Maybe you’ve felt the unpleasant squish as you’ve lowered yourself onto a park bench where a bird recently decided to unload everything he’d been carrying since lunchtime.

Did you ever notice the look of empowerment on a crew member’s face when they were invited to sit in the captain’s chair (on Star Trek)?

Or perhaps you’ve felt the weight of your body cause a chair to give way, collapsing suddenly, grabbing the attention of everyone else in the room.

There are many scenarios to assure us that where we sit really does matter.

From the pain or shame of sitting where we shouldn’t, to the surge of power as we sit where we should, once again we see that all things natural point to the spiritual.

Look at where you’re sitting as you read this blog post. Are you feeling tired, sad, delighted, ashamed, powerful, uncaring or uncared for?

Where are you sitting?

If Jesus is alive in your heart, it may pleasantly surprise you to learn that you are actually seated in heavenly places with Him, at the right hand of our Father.

That’s not merely a nice thought that comes from a verse in scripture. It’s the empowerment of knowing the Truth.

Scripture is divinely inspired by God. Inspired, if you don’t already know, means God-breathed. As God inspired the writers of the Bible to pen the words they share with us, He wrote through them the things He wants us to know, both about Him – and about ourselves.

While reading through the book of Ephesians today, I uncovered verses that stirred something inside of me. As believers, our spirit is one with God’s Spirit. My spirit felt tickled by my Father to read that He raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heavenly places. I read further to confirm that God made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 1:15-2:9, click to read.)

Why would God want us to know this? Ponder that for a few days.

What a power-filled place to be seated!

Even conjuring up a mental image from an old-time movie about an ancient king sitting on his throne and taking note of who sits on his left or his right, would usher in a reverent hush to those standing or kneeling at his feet.

(from quora.com)

We come to the foot of the Cross to repent and submit ourselves to God. He then immediately moves us from sinner to saint, wraps us in His robe of righteousness as the blood of Jesus washes us clean, and He sits us down at His right hand, with our precious Savior, to rule and reign with Him. (Revelation 20:6, click to read.)

With all of the power and authority that God has given you, what will you attend to first?

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Seen or Unseen - We Know

(photo from cengage.com)

Today, let’s think about integrity. We desperately want to see it in our political leaders, especially those who declare their Christianity all over their campaign literature vying for our votes.

As Christians, it should be upper most in our personal characteristics to show exemplary integrity when we’re in the public eye, as well as when we’re alone walking to our car after a grocery shopping spree. (I use the word spree to make it sound like grocery shopping is fun, when in fact, it can be a financial burden for many to put food on their tables, these days.)

What does exemplary integrity look like to you? Is it okay to cut corners when no one is looking? When you get to your car to unload those expensive groceries and discover there’s something in your cart you didn’t get charged for, do you shrug your shoulders and declare that it’s not your fault the cashier didn’t ring it up? Do we justify not paying for it by arguing that we overpaid for every else in the cart? Or do we take the time to walk back in and pay for it? Afterall, no one will ever know what choice we make. Right? Well, yes, God sees everything, but He’s not going to strike us down with a lightning bolt for stealing the item. We know the right thing to do, but do we always do the right thing?

I’ve dealt with people who showed me they had no integrity at all. Honestly, it hurts. But do I sometimes treat others with less exemplary integrity in my heart? Oftentimes, others can tell when we’re cheating them. They may just lack the guts it takes to confront us.

(photo from changingaging.org)

When we find ourselves in a compromising situation, do we sometimes assure ourselves with statements like “the ends justify the means…”? It can be pretty easy to talk ourselves into justifying something we felt we had to do. Satan is right there to encourage us with excuses for justifying something we know right well we shouldn’t do. Yes, we want to hold politicians (and everyone else) to this standard, but do we measure up?

I don’t bring you these words to beat you up, but to encourage you to good works. Sometimes, we need a loving reminder to check our hearts and make sure the enemy hasn’t worked his way in with subtle deceptions. Just sharing some good points to ponder.

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,” - Hebrews 10:24 (NKJV)

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” - James 4:17 (NKJV)