A few weeks ago, I purchased some store brand dishwashwer detergent. I buy a lot of store brands and thought that it would work the same as the "good stuff" but at a smaller cost. Well...I was wrong. After using the cheap stuff for a week, I noticed that my dishes were getting as strange film on them; their surface texture was rough and dull instead of smooth and shiny. So, I bought the good dishwasher detergent, rewashed all my dishes by hand and then put them in the dishwasher and washed them with the good detergent. They came out clean and shiny. Lesson learned--not all store brands make a good substitue for the original.
So why am I writing this in my blog; well, it got me to thinking (something that my family thinks I do too much of...), how often do we as Christians try to live our lives the quick and cheap way. Instead of taking the time to be still with God, we go for the one-minute devotional or we rattle off a prayer while driving the kids to school. Not that praying while driving is bad, but if that is all the time and effort we put into our relationship with Christ, we are suffering. Our Christian witness to the world around us will become dull. People will not be able to see Christ in us because we are not spending enought time IN THE SON to be able to reflect his holiness. I am reminded of the Old Testament story about when Moses spent time with God and afterward his face shone brightly. We should be shining like the SON so that those around us can see Him reflected in us. We cannot do this by ourselves, we need to spend quality time in God's presence. Go to God and get the good stuff. Cheap imitations will not do!!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Temporary Troubles??
For the past week or so, I have been mulling over a few verses for 2 Corinthians 4. The last three verses: 16-18. God has simply not allowed me to put these verses behind me so there must be a reason I keep being reminded of them.
"Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed every day. " (lets stop here a moment... outwardly, the part the the worlds sees, we are wasting away; yet, inwardly, the part that only God sees, we are being renewed EVERY DAY, even on those days that we may not feel it on the outside or maybe even on the inside. God has promised that he is indeed renewing us.)
OK, lets go on..."For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (just a minute I am thinking: Who says that my troubles are light?? Who says that they are momentary?? They have been going on for weeks or even years...BUT here is the good news. These temporary troubles that are weighing us down are getting us ready for the Eternal Glory. This is a promise with hope. The Eternal Glory will FAR outweigh any of these temporary troubles...and this is what makes them light. The will not last forever, they are temporary, they are light when compared with the Light of Eternal Glory.)
So how do we get our focus off our temporary troubles? "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." (We just need to change the location of our focus. We need to fix our eyes on the eternal, the big picture, on Jesus the light of Eternal Glory. Get you eyes off of your temporary troubles, and focus on Jesus, he can handle all your troubles.)
"Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed every day. " (lets stop here a moment... outwardly, the part the the worlds sees, we are wasting away; yet, inwardly, the part that only God sees, we are being renewed EVERY DAY, even on those days that we may not feel it on the outside or maybe even on the inside. God has promised that he is indeed renewing us.)
OK, lets go on..."For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (just a minute I am thinking: Who says that my troubles are light?? Who says that they are momentary?? They have been going on for weeks or even years...BUT here is the good news. These temporary troubles that are weighing us down are getting us ready for the Eternal Glory. This is a promise with hope. The Eternal Glory will FAR outweigh any of these temporary troubles...and this is what makes them light. The will not last forever, they are temporary, they are light when compared with the Light of Eternal Glory.)
So how do we get our focus off our temporary troubles? "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." (We just need to change the location of our focus. We need to fix our eyes on the eternal, the big picture, on Jesus the light of Eternal Glory. Get you eyes off of your temporary troubles, and focus on Jesus, he can handle all your troubles.)
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