I once heard that we must not allow how another sees us to define us - why - because their perception of us is very limited - they don't have the full picture. What do we make when we don't have the full picture? An opinion - good or bad - but it isn't always based on the full facts of a matter. I have an opinion as to the best tasting Italian dressing to put on your salad - but you could have a totally different one from mine because you haven't yet tasted mine. Experience my favorite dressing and you may change your mind. Were you wrong in your original opinion? No, but you just had a limited perspective or perception of what an Italian dressing should taste. At best, you can guess about my life, but the only one who truly knows the inner workings of my mind, the beat of my heart's passion, and the hope of my emotion's trust is God himself.
No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it— what God has arranged for those who love him. But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you. The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. (I Corinthians 2:7-12)
Showing posts with label Perception. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perception. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Prepared for the trip
We have a very limited perspective of what God is doing in our lives - we see some of the things and understand perfectly, but we don't have the 'bigger picture' yet. I don't think most of us could handle it if God gave us the big picture all at one time anyway. It would about do us in to see all we will endure, every hardship and every high place; every compromise and every repentance; every wavering trust and every strong foundation. God doesn't have a limited perception of our lives - even when we do. In fact, he knows the end from the beginning and is pointing us toward the end he has planned. We have to trust him with the end even though we want to know it from the beginning.
God's plans aren't hard to understand - they are oftentimes revealed to us in the subtlest of ways. We miss some of the nuances of his plans just because they are opened up to us in such a subtle manner. We expect the 'big bang' - that 'kaboom' - and there it is before us. Chances are God's plans for us aren't going to come in the 'kaboom' and there it is before you manner. They will come in the realization one door closed so another could open; one relationship seemed to grow stronger while another remained the same; one quiet moment opened the mind's eye to a truth we had been needing to hear in order to understand a tough situation.
Some of us are more concerned with how another sees us than we are in understanding what God is doing in our lives. We want to see his plans and understand them, but we are afraid of how others will see us if we really get 'tuned into' what God is doing within us. We might get labeled as a little too much 'religious' or perhaps a 'goody-two-shoes'. Did you know that a 'good-two-shoes' is someone who is trying too hard to be perfect? God's plans is that we try to be perfect - his plan is that we spend time with him so he can allow his perfection to come out in us. It isn't easy to go deep into his 'plans', but it is well worth it. To understand what he has prepared for us is indeed rewarding. If I know my destination, I prepare well for the journey! It isn't the perception of the journey I want - it is the experience. Just sayin!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Remove the blindfold
Vision - most of us think of this as the ability to see. When it is not there, such as when we have been plunged into darkness by someone covering our eyes with a blindfold, we grope our way through life, don't we? It is as though we have to rely upon our other senses or else we will stumble. How well do you move in this state? Are your movements as fluid as normal? Not likely. In fact, you probably take shorter steps, feeling your way to make sure your footing is solid before you even take the next one. I think we sometimes approach our spiritual life this same way - with a "blindfold" of sorts making us "stumble along" with uncertainty and a lack of vision.
Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. (Psalm 29:18 NIV)
Two words come to mind when I think of vision: Perception and Discernment. It is the combined form of actually "seeing" and "knowing". If you have ever seen something, but then had to ponder for a while what the thing was you were beholding, you might know what it is like to possess sight without understanding. If you can interpret the general shape of an object while blindfolded, you might be able to guess at what it is you are not seeing, but you might not know for sure. Perception and discernment go hand-in-hand. They are God's way of helping us not only walk, but to do so with assurance and firm foundation.
Perception is the ability of the mind to actually apprehend an idea - we call this cognition. Discernment is the ability to put some "discriminating thought" into what it is you perceive. In other words, you can make some "judgment" based on what you know. Our passage today reminds us without vision a people perish. In other words, when we don't have a clear perception of the redemptive work of Christ in our lives, we stumble around a lot. We need to apprehend (comprehend) the redemptive work of Christ - making us new creations in him. We give a lot of "lip-service" to this idea of being new creatures in Christ, but I wonder how many of us are really wearing our blindfolds and just stumbling along trying to perceive, but having our perception blocked by the blindfold.
Open you eyes with a blindfold on and what do you see? The blindfold! At best, with the blindfold in place, we only have "internal reminders" of the things we perceive. In other words, we stumble around the furnishings because we remember their general shape and size. We don't actually see them, but we recall what it is we know about them in order to avoid them. I wonder how many "hazards" in life we merely stumble around, blindfold in place, simply with the use of our "internal reminders" of them being there? The memories we form might give us a perception of the way things "were", but the ability to discern how they "are" now is only possible when the blindfold is removed by the grace of God's work in our lives.
The purpose of the blindfold is to impair the awareness or clear thinking of the one who is wearing it. When we put a blindfold on a child, spin him around, and then send him toward the picture of the donkey on the wall with a little "tail" to pin on it, how does the child respond? It soon becomes evident his awareness of his surroundings is altered by the blindfold. He doesn't think clearly, but blindly walks forward (at least he thinks he is walking forward) and aims at whatever he comes into contact with. The danger is the tail may get "pinned" where it doesn't belong! Awareness or clear thinking are necessary in order to perceive. Until you have clear thinking, the thing you "think" you perceive will be only based on what it is you have formed an internal reminder about in your memory.
Vision is our "V" List trait - the ability to have clear thinking and awareness of the redemptive work Christ is doing and has done in us. The redemptive work began at the moment we welcomed Jesus into our lives as our Savior. The work continues each day until we reach perfection in Christ Jesus. Since none of us are there yet, I believe we need to continually ask him to help us remove the blindfold from our eyes so we see clearly what he desires to do in every area of our lives. We can stumble around with past memories (internal reminders), or we can get a fresh perceptive. The choice is ours. I think it is time to begin to ask God to remove some of the blindfolds we might have just kept on because we were afraid of the light! Light exposes, but once it does, the internal reminders are free to be understood exactly for what they are - past perceptions which need not influence our present reality! Just sayin!
Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. (Psalm 29:18 NIV)
Two words come to mind when I think of vision: Perception and Discernment. It is the combined form of actually "seeing" and "knowing". If you have ever seen something, but then had to ponder for a while what the thing was you were beholding, you might know what it is like to possess sight without understanding. If you can interpret the general shape of an object while blindfolded, you might be able to guess at what it is you are not seeing, but you might not know for sure. Perception and discernment go hand-in-hand. They are God's way of helping us not only walk, but to do so with assurance and firm foundation.
Perception is the ability of the mind to actually apprehend an idea - we call this cognition. Discernment is the ability to put some "discriminating thought" into what it is you perceive. In other words, you can make some "judgment" based on what you know. Our passage today reminds us without vision a people perish. In other words, when we don't have a clear perception of the redemptive work of Christ in our lives, we stumble around a lot. We need to apprehend (comprehend) the redemptive work of Christ - making us new creations in him. We give a lot of "lip-service" to this idea of being new creatures in Christ, but I wonder how many of us are really wearing our blindfolds and just stumbling along trying to perceive, but having our perception blocked by the blindfold.
Open you eyes with a blindfold on and what do you see? The blindfold! At best, with the blindfold in place, we only have "internal reminders" of the things we perceive. In other words, we stumble around the furnishings because we remember their general shape and size. We don't actually see them, but we recall what it is we know about them in order to avoid them. I wonder how many "hazards" in life we merely stumble around, blindfold in place, simply with the use of our "internal reminders" of them being there? The memories we form might give us a perception of the way things "were", but the ability to discern how they "are" now is only possible when the blindfold is removed by the grace of God's work in our lives.
The purpose of the blindfold is to impair the awareness or clear thinking of the one who is wearing it. When we put a blindfold on a child, spin him around, and then send him toward the picture of the donkey on the wall with a little "tail" to pin on it, how does the child respond? It soon becomes evident his awareness of his surroundings is altered by the blindfold. He doesn't think clearly, but blindly walks forward (at least he thinks he is walking forward) and aims at whatever he comes into contact with. The danger is the tail may get "pinned" where it doesn't belong! Awareness or clear thinking are necessary in order to perceive. Until you have clear thinking, the thing you "think" you perceive will be only based on what it is you have formed an internal reminder about in your memory.
Vision is our "V" List trait - the ability to have clear thinking and awareness of the redemptive work Christ is doing and has done in us. The redemptive work began at the moment we welcomed Jesus into our lives as our Savior. The work continues each day until we reach perfection in Christ Jesus. Since none of us are there yet, I believe we need to continually ask him to help us remove the blindfold from our eyes so we see clearly what he desires to do in every area of our lives. We can stumble around with past memories (internal reminders), or we can get a fresh perceptive. The choice is ours. I think it is time to begin to ask God to remove some of the blindfolds we might have just kept on because we were afraid of the light! Light exposes, but once it does, the internal reminders are free to be understood exactly for what they are - past perceptions which need not influence our present reality! Just sayin!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Is it all an illusion?
12-13 Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I'm still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a "good" life. No matter how many days he lives, they'll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn't fear God.
(Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 The Message)
The Good Life - how many times have we said it or heard it said by another - "Aah...this is the GOOD life!" We are kicking back on the beach, enjoying the rays, listening to the palms fronds rattling in the wind, and then we utter these words of absolute contentment! The next thing you know, a gust of wind blows away your umbrella, a happy-go-lucky child throws sand on you, and the sun drifts behind the clouds! What happened to your "contentment" in that moment? Ummm....honestly....it was no longer the "good life"!
Our passage today deals quite honestly with our impression of what a "good life" really is. We get our focus a little misdirected at times - giving us a warped perception of reality. You see, the wind was always there, the clouds were passing over as we uttered those words of contentment, and the child had been working on that sand castle for hours! We just failed to see what was right before our eyes! Those who have followed my posts for a while know that I often bring us back to our "perceptions" of things - because perception often determines reality in our minds!
Look at the verses again. The passage sets out a lifestyle of sin against a lifestyle of reverence for God. The "good life" is really based on something entirely differently than we often imagine. In fact, rarely do I hear anyone describe the good life as serving God first, being less focused on self, and being an obedient steward of the grace God has given in their life! Yet, it is not what we "get by with" in life that makes life great - it is in the fact that we get "nearer" to God that makes it truly great! In fact, a life without God is "colorless as a shadow" and "flat"!
I thought about that a little - it takes the sun to cast a shadow! The more "face-on" you to the sun, the longer your shadow. Let me make this clear - the more face-on you to the Son of God (Jesus), the longer the shadow! In other words, you reflect his greatness in your life! It takes the light to realize the "color" in our world. In the darkness, color is really meaningless. You can be standing smack-dab in the middle of a room filled with vividly paint walls, richly upholstered furnishings in dynamic colors of the rainbow, but without the light in the room, those colors mean nothing! It takes the "light of Life" (Christ) to fill our days with color.
There is another side to this passage that I just cannot glance over as it brings conviction to my heart as I read it. The idea is that we may "think" we get by with stuff (not always good stuff either), perhaps hundred of times, but nothing escapes God's view. That means that even though we don't "get caught" in our sin, he knows it is still there. There is nothing we can hide from him. Want color and light in your life - get honest with God and then enjoy the Son-shine!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)