Through the Eyes
of a Lion
Sunday
(Proverbs 6:22, 2 Corinthian 6:14, Ephesians 5:3, Matthew 5:39, Psalms 37:4)
Perhaps it’s (God’s calling for your life) less about what you do and more about how well you do whatever you do.
So often we get caught up wondering what it is that God wants us to do with our lives, that we forget that we’re doing something right now. Is the thing you’re doing right now the thing that you’ll be doing for the rest of your life? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing that’s certain is that God does want you to make a difference in whatever it is you’re doing at the moment, even if He is going to move you on to something else later.
Monday
(2 Timothy 1:10, Hebrews 2:14)
Satan can still pull the trigger, but there are only blanks in the chamber.
This is reminiscent of that saying, “you can’t kill a Christian, you can only change his address.” What does anything in this world mean? Nothing. But… we’re going to be living in the presence of Yahweh for eternity… so why not live for Him now, so that we can show others the joy that He can bring them. And if we’re persecuted, that doesn’t affect our eternal soul.
Tuesday
(Philippians 2:27, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Philippians 1:21, 2 Corinthians 5:8)
Expecting someone to bounce back as some sort of benchmark of holiness is kind of like asking a person who has had an arm amputated if he is over it yet.
It’s okay to not be okay. But we can know that Jesus went through very similar things to all that we’re going through. He can understand our hurts and fears. There’s nothing that says that we’re not allowed to cry when we experience loss. Sometimes it feels like we’re supposed to embrace our piety and turn hurt into happiness, but this isn’t the case. We can feel sad, we just need to not embrace our sadness. We need to see sadness for what it is and not for what it can make us.
Wednesday
(Psalms 34:18, John 12:32, Acts 9:15-16, Daniel 12:3, Revelation 1:6)
There’s perhaps no time you are as powerful as when you minister in the midst of pain.
Remembering that there’s a spiritual realm all around us where angels are fighting wars for us against agents of evil is difficult when you’re hurting or feeling persecuted. I guess the trick is to use your anguish for good. That’s not quite embracing pain, but accepting it as a tool for you to accomplish the will of God. If we can trust in Yahweh even when our world is crashing down around us, we are walking down the right path. That being said, seeking out a crashing world doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Thursday
(Hebrews 6:19-20, Proverbs 10:25, Matthew 6:21)
In times of overwhelming sadness, your anchor should strengthen you, but you should also be encouraged by the chain.
Hope is the anchor of the soul, but the Holy Spirit is the chain that attaches the anchor to us. We can have the biggest hope in the world, but if we aren’t connected to it, it does no good at all. How are we fostering our relationship with the Holy Spirit in order to strengthen that chain?
Friday
(1 John 3:3, Hebrews 11:13-14, Hebrews 11:8-10)
The more passionate you are about setting your soul to heaven’s time zone, the more progress you will make in you calling here on earth.
There’s a fine line between legalism and doing a thing because it’s the right thing to do. That truly is a matter of the heart. But, the trick is that we can’t rely on the heart to tell us what the right thing to do is; we still have to rely on what the Word of God (the law) says. So how do we avoid falling victim to legalism? We try, every day, to understand Jesus. He followed the law to perfection, but He did it for the right reasons, and ended up looking a lot more loving than those who were the most pious and had, seemingly, made the law their god. If we know the law, but also know Jesus, we will rightly understand the law and we will follow it for the right reasons.
Saturday
(Esther 4:14, John 9:4, James 4:14, 2 Corinthians 5:10-11)
He (the devil) won’t try to talk you out of doing the thing you are intended to he’ll simply tell you to put it off.
Why don’t we (I) feel the urgency to live outrageously for Messiah? So often I pull punches on what I say or do, but why? Am I scared? To borrow a lyric from a Christian song from the 90’s, am I scared of being seen as a Jesus freak? Or, am I scared of offending people? The love of Jesus can offend, but it’s not done in an offensive way? Am I too preoccupied with trying to let the light shine correctly? And, who am I to decide which way is correct? If my life isn’t pointing people to Christ, it’s not the correct way.
Sunday
(Proverbs 6:22, 2 Corinthian 6:14, Ephesians 5:3, Matthew 5:39, Psalms 37:4)
Perhaps it’s (God’s calling for your life) less about what you do and more about how well you do whatever you do.
So often we get caught up wondering what it is that God wants us to do with our lives, that we forget that we’re doing something right now. Is the thing you’re doing right now the thing that you’ll be doing for the rest of your life? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing that’s certain is that God does want you to make a difference in whatever it is you’re doing at the moment, even if He is going to move you on to something else later.
Monday
(2 Timothy 1:10, Hebrews 2:14)
Satan can still pull the trigger, but there are only blanks in the chamber.
This is reminiscent of that saying, “you can’t kill a Christian, you can only change his address.” What does anything in this world mean? Nothing. But… we’re going to be living in the presence of Yahweh for eternity… so why not live for Him now, so that we can show others the joy that He can bring them. And if we’re persecuted, that doesn’t affect our eternal soul.
Tuesday
(Philippians 2:27, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Philippians 1:21, 2 Corinthians 5:8)
Expecting someone to bounce back as some sort of benchmark of holiness is kind of like asking a person who has had an arm amputated if he is over it yet.
It’s okay to not be okay. But we can know that Jesus went through very similar things to all that we’re going through. He can understand our hurts and fears. There’s nothing that says that we’re not allowed to cry when we experience loss. Sometimes it feels like we’re supposed to embrace our piety and turn hurt into happiness, but this isn’t the case. We can feel sad, we just need to not embrace our sadness. We need to see sadness for what it is and not for what it can make us.
Wednesday
(Psalms 34:18, John 12:32, Acts 9:15-16, Daniel 12:3, Revelation 1:6)
There’s perhaps no time you are as powerful as when you minister in the midst of pain.
Remembering that there’s a spiritual realm all around us where angels are fighting wars for us against agents of evil is difficult when you’re hurting or feeling persecuted. I guess the trick is to use your anguish for good. That’s not quite embracing pain, but accepting it as a tool for you to accomplish the will of God. If we can trust in Yahweh even when our world is crashing down around us, we are walking down the right path. That being said, seeking out a crashing world doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Thursday
(Hebrews 6:19-20, Proverbs 10:25, Matthew 6:21)
In times of overwhelming sadness, your anchor should strengthen you, but you should also be encouraged by the chain.
Hope is the anchor of the soul, but the Holy Spirit is the chain that attaches the anchor to us. We can have the biggest hope in the world, but if we aren’t connected to it, it does no good at all. How are we fostering our relationship with the Holy Spirit in order to strengthen that chain?
Friday
(1 John 3:3, Hebrews 11:13-14, Hebrews 11:8-10)
The more passionate you are about setting your soul to heaven’s time zone, the more progress you will make in you calling here on earth.
There’s a fine line between legalism and doing a thing because it’s the right thing to do. That truly is a matter of the heart. But, the trick is that we can’t rely on the heart to tell us what the right thing to do is; we still have to rely on what the Word of God (the law) says. So how do we avoid falling victim to legalism? We try, every day, to understand Jesus. He followed the law to perfection, but He did it for the right reasons, and ended up looking a lot more loving than those who were the most pious and had, seemingly, made the law their god. If we know the law, but also know Jesus, we will rightly understand the law and we will follow it for the right reasons.
Saturday
(Esther 4:14, John 9:4, James 4:14, 2 Corinthians 5:10-11)
He (the devil) won’t try to talk you out of doing the thing you are intended to he’ll simply tell you to put it off.
Why don’t we (I) feel the urgency to live outrageously for Messiah? So often I pull punches on what I say or do, but why? Am I scared? To borrow a lyric from a Christian song from the 90’s, am I scared of being seen as a Jesus freak? Or, am I scared of offending people? The love of Jesus can offend, but it’s not done in an offensive way? Am I too preoccupied with trying to let the light shine correctly? And, who am I to decide which way is correct? If my life isn’t pointing people to Christ, it’s not the correct way.
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