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1. Don’t take on the emotional burdens of others. Yes, we are called to bear one another’s burdens, and that means to provide physical help where possible and to bring those burdens to the Lord on their behalf. It doesn’t mean guessing or imaging what their emotional response is and taking it on as our own. My mom was in the hospital this weekend, the same weekend of a family reunion that she had been counting the days to. I was so sad for my mom missing the reunion. Yet every time I talked to or saw her, she was fine. I kept thinking “how very sad she’ll feel while everyone is at the reunion and she’s in the hospital bed alone.” It turned my world gray for a time – and she was fine! How foolish of me to take on that unnecessary burden. I’m 54 years old, mom has been totally paralyzed on her left side and has had limited use of her right side for more than a dozen years…and she still teaches me things. I want to be like her when I grow up!
2. Do your best and then have confidence that God’s grace will come through for you! This is especially true when the ground under you seems unstable or the mountain in front of you too high. God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) The key is to truly have confidence in God – which means stop fretting and look forward to what He will do! (I can’t always do it, but it’s a great way to live – when I’m able to appropriate that grace, life is good, no matter what happens!)
3. The enemy lives in the shadows. God operates in the light. The enemy operates in the shadows – the “what ifs,” doubts and fears. To extinguish the shadows, turn up the lights – worship, read or meditate on Scripture, sing or hum your favorite hymn, remind yourself of God’s great promises and His unfailing faithfulness. Do whatever it takes to turn up the lights. (John 3:19-21, 8:12)
4. God’s people are very good. They have your back in this world. And God has your back in the spiritual realm. If you don’t have a church home – one that you attend regularly and where you know people and are known by them – start your search for one immediately. Without a church family you set yourself as easy pickin’s for the enemy.
5. We really do have a lot of power over how we feel about and respond to life. Like I said earlier, I’m 54 years old. That means I’ve stood in lots of lines in lots of stores. This evening I stood in a relatively short line with the absolutely slowest cashier I’ve ever encountered. I was tempted to get frustrated. After thumbing through two magazines, I was even more tempted. That’s when I noticed the guy in front of me. He had a memorial shirt on for someone who had died serving our country in March of this year. He looked tired, but he waited patiently. It encouraged me to let go of my own agenda and simply wait and smile. I realized during this process that if I had continued on the route to frustration, I would have left that line ten minutes later with an annoyance that would have stayed with me well into the evening. Instead, I left smiling and humming praises to God. I felt good about smiling at the very slow cashier – she probably doesn’t get many people smiling at her. I felt good about conquering frustration for the moment. And I felt really good about the results – feeling blessed instead of annoyed. Gotta love that!

So, faithful readers, I don’t know if any of the above speaks to you, but it seems like a lot to learn in a weekend. God is good! Blessings on your upcoming week!

²⁸We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30 (New Revised Standard Version)

Yesterday we looked at verse 28 – God’s promise to work things together for God for those who love Him and pursue Him. Today we’ll begin to look at verses 29 and 30. This is where it gets exciting!

Predestined to be Conformed – It’s a Done Deal!
Setting aside the sometimes controversial question of predestination, let’s unpack what verse 29 says.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.
Romans 8:29 (NRSV)

If you love God, if you are called according to His purpose (verse 28), God has predestined you to be conformed to the image of His Son – Think about that – You have been “programmed” to become like Christ. Is Christ loving? (Yes!) You are predestined to become loving. Is Christ compassionate? (Yes!) You are predestined to become compassionate. Is Christ forgiving? (Yes!) You are predestined to become forgiving. Does Christ know what the Father wants Him to do? (Yes!) You are predestined to know what the Father wants you to do!

Read through the Gospels. Everything you see Jesus doing and being – God has predestined you to do and be!

What an encouragement that is for me! It even changes my perspective on some difficult areas of my life. I am programmed, I am predestined, to respond in love, forgiveness and compassion! That’s not my self-image. I know it’s how I know God wants me to respond, but it’s not how I think of myself as responding. But now I see that it’s not only how God wants me to respond, it’s how God has programmed me to respond. To respond otherwise, is an aberration – it’s not who I truly am. So I can begin to think of myself in those terms instead of any other way.

Sometimes it’s easy for me to think of myself as less than God has predestined me to be. Sometimes I think of myself as unforgiving or uncompassionate. Perhaps your self image says you are stubborn or lazy. Christ is neither of those things. So if your self-image includes those characteristics, your self-image is incorrect. (In other words, you’ve bought lies the enemy has been feeding you.) God has predestined you to become like Christ.

When I think of myself as a sinner, it is easier for me to sin. Now don’t get me wrong. Yes, I am a sinner, as are you and everyone else on this planet of ours. But when I get specific – when I think of myself as a liar, for example, it becomes so much easier for me to lie. If I think of myself as a truth-teller, however, it becomes much more difficult to utter things that are not fully truthful. So if I think of myself as conformed to the image of Christ, I think of myself as a truth-teller. When I think of myself as lazy, it becomes much easier for me to waste time than if I think of myself as being about my Father’s business. If I see (and define) myself as stubborn, it’s easier to justify holding a grudge than if I see myself as merciful, compassionate and forgiving.

How we see ourselves has everything to do with how we respond to people and circumstances. I’m convinced that if we see ourselves as the finished product – that is, conformed to the image of Christ – that we will respond to people and circumstances more consistently with the character of Christ. I am excited to be a person who has the character of Christ instead of what I’ve walked around with for too many years. I am excited that I am patient and loving and kind and merciful and compassionate and forgiving.

Lord, change our self image! You have promised that we will be conformed to the image of Christ. Help us see ourselves in the light of that truth!

Tomorrow we’ll look at some exciting aspects of being called!

  

At any moment in life we have the option to choose an attitude of gratitude, a posture of grace, a commitment to joy.
          Tim Hansel

 Attitudes are capable of making the same experience either pleasant or painful.
         John Powell

I attend a business networking meeting weekly. This week, the conference room in which we meet was decorated in a fun, tiki-island theme for a children’s program that was to begin shortly after we left. I arrived early to find strings of shells serving as a curtain at the doorway, a tiki-bar just past the shell curtain (used as a registration booth, no doubt), lots of netting, and colorful posters and table cloths. Arriving early also afforded me the opportunity to watch as others arrived. Reactions varied considerably from “How fun!” to “What the…..?” There was the woman who saw the theme and started dancing and the man whose sour expression showed his disapproval. (I wonder – was his disapproval at the foolishness of the decorations, at our use of the room while it was decorated for the children’s program, or something I wouldn’t imagine. Or perhaps his expression was simply revealing his insecurity at walking into the transformed room and I interpreted it as disapproval. Perhaps I should have asked him.)

It was fascinating to watch each person arrive at the meeting, and God used it to reinforce a theme he seems to be hammering into me lately: It’s all about our perspective, and our perspective is affected by and affects our attitude.

Perspective has a lot to do with what lens through which we’re viewing life.

Most of the time I need to use the super-wide angle lens. When looking through this lens, I can see the bigger picture and I often ask the question “in light of eternity, what does it matter?” Most of life’s little annoyances melt into the background when eternity is in the foreground.

When things get really tough, I have to switch to the more focused lens – the one that allows me to see only one thing, and that Thing must be Jesus. If I focus on the issues at hand, my world dissolves into chaos of one sort or another – questions that begin with “how” and “when” and “who” and “why,” and statements that begin with “if” can quickly turn my mind and emotions into a chaotic jungle of twisted vines and branches. That’s when the single lens is needed – the one that looks at the single, true Vine.

If you’re Resting at the River’s Edge with us, you read the following verses this week:

          ¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So 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.
                    2 Corinthians 4:16-18

What a wonderful passage! “Therefore, we do not lose heart!” It can be easy to lose heart when we focus on the world around us. Paul gives the secret for not losing heart – “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.”

Lord, help me to see the unseen, to capture it in my spirit, and to let it serve always as the lens through which I walk through life. Yes, I maybe wasting away inwardly, whether from the stresses of life or simply from growing older, but let me always be renewed day by day as I focus on You and not on the circumstances of my life.

I want to be one of the people who walks through the door and says “How fun!” I want to be one of the people who sees the unexpected changes in my surroundings and enjoys them! I want to experience my life as part of the great adventure God has for me here on earth. That is the perspective, the lens, through which I want to see and live life. Will you join me?