Dear Readers,
Recently I was disappointed when things did not turn out as I had hoped, and I felt like people let me down. I then heard a song by Sara Groves entitled “This Journey Is My Own”. The phrase in the song that captured my attention was repeated several times in one of the stanzas. It is the following:
And now I live and I breathe for an audience of one.
Now I live and I breathe for an audience of one.
Now I live and I breathe for an audience of one.
Because I know this journey is my own.
The song addresses man’s attempt to gain “advice” and “approval” from others, and “to make a good impression”. Sara Groves points out, however, that there is “an audience of one” whose advice and approval is to be sought in this journey of life. He is the One for whom our quest should be to make a good impression.
How often I forget this. How often I feel hurt when other persons have not responded as I had hoped. How often I forget to seek the One whose advice and approval is steady and sure.
Other people are very important in our lives! Jesus emphasized this in John 13:34-35 (NIV) when he said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Also, Paul addressed extensively the importance of loving others in I Corinthians 13. Approval from others, on the other hand, should be looked on as a gift, not a given.
Therefore, I pray for myself, my family and friends, and persons reading this blog to seek advice and approval from, and to make a good impression for “an audience of one”.
See you next time,
Arlen
Dear Readers,
When was the last time you watched a movie, newscast, or television show where an evangelical Christian was portrayed as an interesting, fun-loving, learned, open-minded, and caring person? Can you count the times with your fingers on one hand?
My wife pointed this out to me. She said that in both old and new movies Catholicism is given some reverence. There are touching musical scores with nuns in “The Sound of Music”, magical Christmas scenes on “Home Alone” where Kevin finds refuge in a beautiful Catholic cathedral, and confessionals where a main character seeks solace from a priest. And on television, which baby boomers can ever forget the fun antics of The Flying Nun?
Evangelical Christians, on the other hand, are usually reenacted as being mean-spirited, narrow-minded, and intolerant. Robert’s parents-in-law on “Everybody Loves Raymond” are a prime example of that stereotype.
News anchors poke fun at “right wing, racist, nut job” Christians in the Tea Party. Their gun-loving ways are seen as threats to society.
What do you think? Do we have some of the above-listed characteristics? Or are these characteristics grossly exaggerated?
Isaiah 28 debunks the myth that God’s followers are always stuck-in-the-mud, unlearned, uncaring people. He wrote that persons who follow Him are instructed in the “right way” (vs. 26). He then goes on to explain the following: “All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom” (vs. 29).
So if God is wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom, and He instructs us in this counsel and wisdom, that makes us the privy to the most creative, interesting thoughts in the universe. We cannot help but marvel at all He has given us, and especially the wonderful plan He has for us serving His Son Jesus.
See you next time,
Arlen
Dear Readers,
This morning during my devotions a difficult reality hit me. Sometimes it is difficult for me to conceptualize God. Perhaps many of you reading this blog have a very firm idea of what God is like, and exactly who He is. Maybe questions never creep in your mind. (Note: I will not use the term “doubts” in the place of “questions”, because James 1:6 says directly that “he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind”.)
God sometimes seems an enigma to me. What form does he have here on earth? What form will He have when I see Him in heaven? I can sort of picture Jesus, because He had the form of a man. But God is a different story. How does one envision God who created the universe and every cell and atom in it, and is not bound by time and space?
Then another difficult reality hit me. It is a reality of a dire nature. It has implications for our loved ones and friends. The reality is this: why do people not read and understand the Bible and the story of Jesus, and what God wants to do for them through Jesus? If everyone would just read the Bible and try to understand it surely they would see the truth, right? What is the holdup? What is the barrier that holds them back?
Please pray for me as I pray for you as we sort out these difficult realities...and especially pray for our loved ones and friends who perhaps do not even think of these realities.
See you next time,
Arlen
Dear Readers,
I am 56 years old and the other morning I had a feeling that I never had before…while drinking coffee! I usually have my devotions in the morning with a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee before going to work. Everything seemed normal, but as I was taking a gulp of hot coffee a keen awareness came over me.
All of a sudden I thought how odd it seemed to pour liquid through my mouth and the gravity pulling it into the cavities below. Then I thought about it spreading out into my body and tissues, and then the unused liquid exiting in various ways. I won’t, however, get into that.
At that moment I fully recognized the amazing creation that is a person! How intricate a design! I was truly made aware of how "wonderfully" we are made by God! (Psalm 139:14)
See you next time,
Arlen
