Currently listening to "Ride"- Cary Brothers
A masterpiece to me is something made with great passion and vigor. It's exactly what it's supposed to be. It looks how the creator envisioned it. It's made to perfection. It's a work of art. The creator usually takes pride in it. The creator is proud of it and wants to show it off to the world. When asked about this masterpiece the person that created it probably smiles, beaming form ear to ear, knowing how great this masterpiece is. A masterpiece doesn't question itself; it doesn't know any differently. All it knows is that the person that created it is very well pleased in it. The masterpiece doesn't ask the question "Well why don't I look like this and why don't I look like that?" No, it's content in being what it is, namely because the creator views it that way.
I never feel like a masterpiece. I feel more like a raggedy Andy doll. Sometimes bringing joy to some, but easily worn out and tossed to the wayside. Sometimes lifeless, while wearing a plastered or sewn on smile. You can see the wear and tear on my garments and face from being tossed about in life. Not as appealing as a Batman action figure or a Spider-man one at that.
What does God see me as: A masterpiece or a raggedy Andy doll? Psalm 139 says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The Message says I am marvelously made. Marvelously. That is saying that I'm something to marvel at. I'm something to see! The Creator of the Universe looks at me and is in awe! He sees that I view myself as a cheap old doll that doesn't have much use. If that's the case, what am I saying about God? I'm pretty much saying that He's an idiot and doesn't know what He's doing. This is far from the truth. If the God of ALL creation sees me and gets excited, then why don't I feel that about myself all of the time? Basically,what I'm doing is looking at Jesus square in the eyes as He hangs and bleeds on that cross, for ME mind you, and I say, "FORGET You and you're dieing on the cross! You're going to have to come better than that!" WOW! This is far from what I want to say to God. I desire for him to be pleased with me, to view me as a masterpiece.
I think the way I view myself is all about me. Self hearted. But if I really take a chance of allowing the way God views me to transform who I am and whose I am then it all changes. Soft Hearted. God wants me to view myself nothing more than what I am. A Masterpiece.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Everybody's A Grand Canyon
Currently listening to "Something's Missing (A Capella)"- Brandy
I remember doing the Shoal Creek Community Church internship the summer of 2004 and hearing Roy Moran say (paraphrased)," Everybody is a Grand Canyon. Your story is so deep and wide." Think about it. The Grand Canyon is HUGE! I've never been there, but I can imagine in my head: this huge stretch of land and rock with a very large, dense canal so deep that I can't see the bottom. Have you ever thought about you and other people being so deep you can't see the bottom?
Have you ever been to an airport and people watched? I enjoy it. I know it sounds creepy, but I can't lie. I do it everytime I'm in a place packed with peopole (i.e- malls, airports, churches, work out facilities, busy streets) For some odd reason this past year, I flew like 6 or 7 times. I spent alot of time in airports alone, people watching. Now there's an art to this, or else you just look like a weirdo staring at people. Where are they going? Where did they come from? What's their story? The mind is funny. At least mine is anyway. It makes silly assumptions by what your eyes take in and what your ears hear, which is never really accurate.
Do you remember ever seeing that Kleenex commercial with the guy who grabbed a couch and just planted it on the side walk in some city, I'm gonna say New York. He just sat there and waited for someone to sit down and talk. I'm sure he learned things about people that he would've never known just by looking at them. You never really heard any of the conversations, but you could tell by the laughter and tears that he was learning so much about these random people. I think all these people needed was an opportunity to share themselves with someone else.
What if we approached life in that way. It may not be ideal to grab a couch and plant it somewhere, but what if we assumed that the people around us had a story to tell. I know I always appear to be well put together, happy and on cloud 9, but that usually isn't the case. I struggle with things, I isolate myself sometimes, I'm not responsible all the time, I'm selfish. There's many things about me that people don't know about. But you can only assume what you see and sometimes hear about me.
I always think about the woman at the well (see John 4). This Samaritan woman thought she had a clue as to who she was talking to; some snobby Jewish man who wasn't supposed to be talking to her in the first place. All along it was Jesus who was offering her the best thing her life needed; living water and a chance to be in the best relationship she could ever have. (Side note: she had 5 ex-husbands and was living with a guy she wasn't married to......grand canyon!) Place yourself in Jesus' shoes at that moment. He asked this woman for water, a Samaritan woman. Jews and Samaritan's didn't have conversations let alone be in the same place together. Also, she was a woman. Men and women didn't just shoot the breeze like that. Women were considered nothing. Jesus, like he does best, broke the social norm and talked to her, took a chance and had a life changing encounter with this woman.
Now, I'm as guilty as the next person. I judge people. I assume things about people. My friend Derek Poe and I had such wrong assumptions about each other when we first met. Now we're good friends because we took a chance to ask the question, "What's your story?" So when you see that weird guy at work, ask yourself the question and then ask him. When you see that girl who always seems to be upset ask yourself the question and then ask her. You're gonna learn things you never knew. Everybody's a Grand Canyon. Everybody has a story. What's theirs? What's yours?
Just something that was on my heart today.
I remember doing the Shoal Creek Community Church internship the summer of 2004 and hearing Roy Moran say (paraphrased)," Everybody is a Grand Canyon. Your story is so deep and wide." Think about it. The Grand Canyon is HUGE! I've never been there, but I can imagine in my head: this huge stretch of land and rock with a very large, dense canal so deep that I can't see the bottom. Have you ever thought about you and other people being so deep you can't see the bottom?
Have you ever been to an airport and people watched? I enjoy it. I know it sounds creepy, but I can't lie. I do it everytime I'm in a place packed with peopole (i.e- malls, airports, churches, work out facilities, busy streets) For some odd reason this past year, I flew like 6 or 7 times. I spent alot of time in airports alone, people watching. Now there's an art to this, or else you just look like a weirdo staring at people. Where are they going? Where did they come from? What's their story? The mind is funny. At least mine is anyway. It makes silly assumptions by what your eyes take in and what your ears hear, which is never really accurate.
Do you remember ever seeing that Kleenex commercial with the guy who grabbed a couch and just planted it on the side walk in some city, I'm gonna say New York. He just sat there and waited for someone to sit down and talk. I'm sure he learned things about people that he would've never known just by looking at them. You never really heard any of the conversations, but you could tell by the laughter and tears that he was learning so much about these random people. I think all these people needed was an opportunity to share themselves with someone else.
What if we approached life in that way. It may not be ideal to grab a couch and plant it somewhere, but what if we assumed that the people around us had a story to tell. I know I always appear to be well put together, happy and on cloud 9, but that usually isn't the case. I struggle with things, I isolate myself sometimes, I'm not responsible all the time, I'm selfish. There's many things about me that people don't know about. But you can only assume what you see and sometimes hear about me.
I always think about the woman at the well (see John 4). This Samaritan woman thought she had a clue as to who she was talking to; some snobby Jewish man who wasn't supposed to be talking to her in the first place. All along it was Jesus who was offering her the best thing her life needed; living water and a chance to be in the best relationship she could ever have. (Side note: she had 5 ex-husbands and was living with a guy she wasn't married to......grand canyon!) Place yourself in Jesus' shoes at that moment. He asked this woman for water, a Samaritan woman. Jews and Samaritan's didn't have conversations let alone be in the same place together. Also, she was a woman. Men and women didn't just shoot the breeze like that. Women were considered nothing. Jesus, like he does best, broke the social norm and talked to her, took a chance and had a life changing encounter with this woman.
Now, I'm as guilty as the next person. I judge people. I assume things about people. My friend Derek Poe and I had such wrong assumptions about each other when we first met. Now we're good friends because we took a chance to ask the question, "What's your story?" So when you see that weird guy at work, ask yourself the question and then ask him. When you see that girl who always seems to be upset ask yourself the question and then ask her. You're gonna learn things you never knew. Everybody's a Grand Canyon. Everybody has a story. What's theirs? What's yours?
Just something that was on my heart today.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
I Don't Deserve This...... I Can't Even Walk!
Currently listening to "By Your Side"- Tenth Avenue North
Royalty. What words come to mind when you think of royalty? Castles...crowns...Respect....admiration....power.....honor.....leadership. These are some of the words that come to mind when I think of royalty. Royalty seems so unreachable. It seems so far off. It seems so unlike me. But why? I feel like I don't deserve that kind of stature. I have no reason being in such high places. I'm not good enough for royalty. This list comes from a longer list of events in my life that has caused me to believe this about myself. True or False.
In 2 Samuel 9, Mephibosheth probably felt the same way. (Side note: I wonder what kind of nicknames he had growing up? Meff, Me Me, Meffy, Meff Meff. Just curious) David was royalty. David stood in high places and did grand things. David had castles, crowns, respect, admiration and everything on that list. Mephibosheth was just an ordinary guy that was heir to a great friend of David's. David wanted to honor Jonathan by showing kindness to someone left in his family. He found Mephibosheth. A random nobody. "Who am I that you would pay attention to a stray dog like me?" He knew how much of a nobody he was. Humility? Probably. I really think he was just being himself. A random nobody. He was given all of his grandfather's property and asked to sit at the kings table at every meal. Dude was lame on both feet at that. I'm sure he was thinking "I don't deserve this. I can't even walk!" It didn't matter though. He didn't earn any of this stuff, like David did. David made Meffy an heir because of who he knew, his father Jonathan and his grandfather Saul; and heir to the throne before David and a very close friend to David. What a feeling! To know you're invited into royalty and you did NOTHING to deserve it.
I feel like that's what God offers me. US! That's what grace is. That's what becoming and earner to heir is all about. I know I think just like Mephibosheth, "I don't deserve this, I can't even walk!" In so many ways my walk with Jesus becomes so distorted with circumstances, decisions I make to avoid going straight to the heart issue, just plain Life. Makes me feel lame in both feet. This leaves me feeling undeserving. Like a nobody. Once Jesus died on the cross, my so called "truth" was shattered. I'm an heir and I didn't even have to do anything to deserve it. It's all because of who I know. The relationship I have with Jesus allows me to be a part of his kingdom and the things that co-exist within that. Castles. Crowns. Respect. Admiration. Love. Hope. Grace! What a feeling! To know that I'm invited into royalty and did NOTHING to deserve it. I'll take it! Thanks Meffy! (Apparently I like that one the best)
Royalty. What words come to mind when you think of royalty? Castles...crowns...Respect....admiration....power.....honor.....leadership. These are some of the words that come to mind when I think of royalty. Royalty seems so unreachable. It seems so far off. It seems so unlike me. But why? I feel like I don't deserve that kind of stature. I have no reason being in such high places. I'm not good enough for royalty. This list comes from a longer list of events in my life that has caused me to believe this about myself. True or False.
In 2 Samuel 9, Mephibosheth probably felt the same way. (Side note: I wonder what kind of nicknames he had growing up? Meff, Me Me, Meffy, Meff Meff. Just curious) David was royalty. David stood in high places and did grand things. David had castles, crowns, respect, admiration and everything on that list. Mephibosheth was just an ordinary guy that was heir to a great friend of David's. David wanted to honor Jonathan by showing kindness to someone left in his family. He found Mephibosheth. A random nobody. "Who am I that you would pay attention to a stray dog like me?" He knew how much of a nobody he was. Humility? Probably. I really think he was just being himself. A random nobody. He was given all of his grandfather's property and asked to sit at the kings table at every meal. Dude was lame on both feet at that. I'm sure he was thinking "I don't deserve this. I can't even walk!" It didn't matter though. He didn't earn any of this stuff, like David did. David made Meffy an heir because of who he knew, his father Jonathan and his grandfather Saul; and heir to the throne before David and a very close friend to David. What a feeling! To know you're invited into royalty and you did NOTHING to deserve it.
I feel like that's what God offers me. US! That's what grace is. That's what becoming and earner to heir is all about. I know I think just like Mephibosheth, "I don't deserve this, I can't even walk!" In so many ways my walk with Jesus becomes so distorted with circumstances, decisions I make to avoid going straight to the heart issue, just plain Life. Makes me feel lame in both feet. This leaves me feeling undeserving. Like a nobody. Once Jesus died on the cross, my so called "truth" was shattered. I'm an heir and I didn't even have to do anything to deserve it. It's all because of who I know. The relationship I have with Jesus allows me to be a part of his kingdom and the things that co-exist within that. Castles. Crowns. Respect. Admiration. Love. Hope. Grace! What a feeling! To know that I'm invited into royalty and did NOTHING to deserve it. I'll take it! Thanks Meffy! (Apparently I like that one the best)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)