TIME TO GAIN...
PERSPECTIVE
“Life is best lived in curves rather than right angles. If you don’t believe me ask your passengers.” Greg, my 14th best friend, made that one up. You just gained a little perspective reading that. Your perspective can change quickly. A car wreck… a new puppy… a doctor’s report… money…
I took this shot on top of the Golden Gate a long time ago when my brother-in-law worked for their elevator maintenance department. It was awesome! Leaned out as far as possible trying to get the shadow of the bridge in the water. Talk about perspective! There are different types of perspective and they come at us from, well, different perspectives as well. A whole lot of things will come your way throughout life. At one point you decide no one is going to tell you what to do! At another point you find yourself looking for your fourth job in three years because... well... no one is going to tell you what to do. For some perspective truly comes to surface at the hospital. That wonderful newborn child grabs top spot on your perspective meter. Love it! And for many the time comes when you look in the mirror and well… you know. A job loss… a funeral… bone cold weather… burnt food… a sermon… a smile you’ve been wishing to see for so long. Have you ever thought of what happens when you die? Sure you have. "God has planted eternity in the human heart..." Eccl. 3:11.
My point is that we are forced to live in the window of perspective. And sometimes it seems too many things come at us from different angels at the same time and before we know it we can become rather defensive around others. And maybe even rather abrasive... As a result we sometimes offer others more right angles rather than curves when crossing paths. But where do we go with what seems to be a lot more bad than good on our perspective meter? Hoped you’d ask.
TIME TO FIND...
TRUTH
Some say, “First there was nothing… and then it exploded, and here we are.” Really? Nothing... just exploded one day.
I remember walking up the steps of Caiaphas’ house when I was in Israel and asking myself, as I stepped, “Did Jesus step here?” I write to you from the perspective that Jesus Christ walked on our dirt. Actually his since he spoke it into existence. I write gently asking you to give the truth of Scripture a chance. Perhaps you come from a perspective that just says that Bible stuff isn’t for you. Been there. Have you read it? Perhaps read the fourth book in the New Testament three times. No rush… just consistency. Try it. Many avoid the Bible because it tells us things about ourselves that we just don’t want to hear. We have a perspective that chooses to stiff-arm the God stuff. How you doing? God’s Word gives me God’s perspective on how to do life. Many say, "That's foolishness..." Those are the exact words 1Corinthians 2:14 said a couple thousand years ago. Gotta say, learning to try and see things from God's eye view sure does change how my perspective is on a lot of things.
I took this picture, by the way, down in SoCal leaning over the pier one afternoon. All day long, over 6 hours of shooting at high speed, just hoping for something. As soon as I saw that shot I thought, "God's eye view." Imagine if we could see things from His perspective! Sure wish I did a better job at matching up. But I love being entrenched in enriching guidance from Him. Check out the little book I wrote: It’s Called The Sword For A Reason.
TIME TO GET...
ON TARGET
Does the direction of your path feel a bit off target to you? Do you find that you come across to others a bit more like sandpaper than a bag of feathers? Not much gentleness. No respect for others. 'Stay out of my way,' arrogance. No softness. And on those times when you've just dug the hole too deeply, do you find that you're beginning to expect others to bail you out of your situations? "It's my parent's fault." "It's the government's fault." Maybe it's your social media algorithms, or your generation or your spouse. Have you grown comfortable with making excuses and blaming others? (Wanna know how to spell, “blame?” … “B…lame.”) C’mon, let’s get back on target. Just accept the fact that you live in a fallen world. We don’t like it, but we do live in it. And we're born with that fallenness in us. It's pretty easy to get off target. And before we know it when we see how off target so many other people are... well we just either decide to move the target a bit or better yet just decide there is no 'target' to shoot for.
I know a guy who said he has ‘learned’ to be content. It didn’t come natural to him. It wasn’t easy. He learned. But he changed... from murderer out of hate to martyr out of love. He was the apostle Paul. His focus changed. His 'target' changed. His whole goal was to know Christ and to know what it meant to know His power and fellowship. Talk about a changed person! Change. Is it in you? Not blame. Change. Somehow God has brought me to a peace that surpasses all comprehension. I found that I didn't have the peace OF God until I firstly made peace WITH God. Is it time? Feathers coming…
TIME TO USE...
YOUR GIFT
You are absolutely unique… just like everybody else. Nobody like you. Let’s not get into the ‘someday’ trap. We can’t wait until we have it all together before we will serve others. We’d never serve if that was the case. Giftedness gone. Nope. That’s not how it works. Take what you have and use it for God’s purposes. No excuses. Figure it out. Get off the couch and on your feet and serve. Where? Dunno. Doing what? Yup yup. Figure it out. I will say, if we go back and re-read the earlier thoughts here, that we can gain a renewed perspective through a Biblical worldview that will bring us to an overwhelming peace that will change our focus from, “it’s all about me,” to “What can I do?” One thing clearly taught in the Bible is that God gives special abilities. He gives spiritual gifts. We don’t choose them like the office elephant gift. They are special abilities given by God, to us, for the church. If you’re a Christ follower, you have a gift, perhaps even more. Remember Paul? He tells us to “stir up the gift” as we walk through life. Don’t complicate it. Figure it out. Press on.
I took this photo in Ontario, Canada. This guy looked so relaxed up in the tree. It was like not a worry in the world. And honestly, as a Christ follower, we know we're going to always be in a world with chaos and it's in this exact environment that we get to model what the Bible calls a "peace that surpasses all understanding." (Phil. 4:7) So let me encourage you to discover your gift(s) and use them for God's glory, and rest in that. Do your part and let others do theirs. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is chill for a bit. (Be in the tree)... for awhile. And then, like Paul said, "stir up the gift." Get after it again. "God is making His appeal through us." (2Cor. 5:20) And He has gifted us uniquely to do so.
We Otter Go Again Sometime...
TIME TO...
INFLUENCE OTHERS
We impress from a distance. We influence from up close. You will be given 168. 168. That’s not just a few. And yet… 168? Not that many, is it? 168 is how many hours are in one week. So now that you have broken your week down into hours, let’s break that down into minutes and get serious. It’s in the minutes that we influence. It’s in the minutes that we make decisions that can impact the rest of our life. True, isn’t it? It’s in the minutes that the teenager can make a decision filled with regret or that the parent can say something they wish they had never said. Influence.
It’s up close and personal that we often have our greatest influence on others. So let’s back out to 168 again. And now let me throw in another variable. Ready? For as long as you live you will be in conflict… PERIOD! There it is sports fans. As someone who seeks to follow Christ you will be in conflict with Satan. But here’s the deal, Lucille… YOU ARE EQUIPPED! Okay. Yes! It’s still a battle, and yes we are still going to lose sometimes, but face it by the minute, not the hour. Influence. Let’s get back to that temptation that teenager faces when the relationship kinda seems to be on the line if we don’t cross the line… Conflict, right? That’s not when you make the decision (in that minute). That decision is made much earlier in development of your spiritual backbone as you memorize God’s Word and huddle with other believers in the battle and as you go heart to heart with mom, dad and your godly mentor during your 168. Then when ‘the minute’ comes and you’re in conflict with what I call ‘hormonal theology,’ where you decide what you really believe, you make the right decision. Talk about influence. (We influence from up close, remember). Ok… maybe they will leave you. But I guarantee you their respect for you will go through the roof! Oh, and if you decide to cave in the heat of passion instead… their respect for you will cave as well… Influence.
If you’re going to be an influence on someone you’re going to have to spend time with them. Mom, Dad, you don’t feed em the little screen and begin getting involved when they’re a teen. Nada… Too late. Nuff said. Influence from up close. Make memories. Give them their space too (curves rather than right angles, remember)? Accept the fact that it’s a given that sooner than you think someone else is going to have more influence on them than you. It may be a teacher, a coach, a friend at school or the youth group. It’s part of the 168. You raise them to release them. You give them roots and then wings. Better influence up close while you can because you’ll be in the distance before you know it. I’m smiling and shaking my head as I type this. Goes by so fast. Oh that it could be said of you as was said in Gal. 1:24… “They glorified God because of me.”
So it's my hope that as you have taken the brief jaunt through these few pages you have come to the realization that we all go through different stages in life. In this case I've called them different 'times,' touching on perspective, truth, change, gift(s), and influence. And it's not so much that we ever stop gaining perspective, or stop changing (maturing), or developing our gift(s) or influence. These aspects stay with us to the grave. May I encourage you to spend some time in 'The 84 Effect' collection. No hurry here. Just slow down and focus. Perhaps pull out your little notebook or journal and go slowly. Remember the 168 a week to 'do life' so to speak. So each Wednesday, midway through the 168 hours (84) I'm giving you something to think about and, please... something to DO about it as well. Go slow... Jot down what comes to mind. Sometimes when I'm in a position of dealing with a person who has faced an unplanned setback I try to get them to find a time to write. Don't make impetuous decisions. Find time to write. 'Thoughts disentangle themselves when they move from the lips and through the fingertips.' Slow down... write it down and clarify it with a good friend. Now that it's written down you don't have the pressure of remembering everything. And now that you've discussed it with a friend clarity is surfacing. So all I'm saying about The 84 Effect is to try going slow and asking God's Spirit to tell you things that are not found in print, okay? Let's remember the Spirit is our comforter. He has been called "alongside" us. The goal isn't a thicker notebook... it's more tread on your shoes. It's putting feet to your faith, okay? It's not called, "The 84 Thought" or "The 84 Feeling" or the 84 Idea." I deeply desire that there is an effect that comes from your brief time on that particular mid-week teaching.
Finally, if perhaps you have gotten this far and the "God stuff" is rather new, let me encourage you to get into a Bible teaching church somewhere nearby. Don't look for the perfect church, because as soon as you join it it won't be perfect anymore. We're all in process. But please do find a local church to meet with other Christ followers. (Note the picture I took at the top of this page). Pastor 'pixel' on the computer is not what I'm talking about here. We all need real people to rub shoulders with. In fact, you find several "one another's" as you work you way through various challenges in The 84 Effect. Thanks for stopping on the site. Check out the video about my little book.