Muddled Minds

To 'reflect' one must realize the power of the mind to direct the course of action one's mind actually takes within that time of 'reflection'. What our minds contemplate may be quite different than what we intended as we began that time of reflection, being influenced by what we have seen and heard earlier, or whatever makes demands upon our thoughts at the moment. We tend to have a hard time 'reflecting' today because of the varying number of distractions we have that vie for our attention, don't we? I find the night hours can be the most troublesome at times, being awake for hours 'contemplating' something that is 'worrying' my mind. Rather than 'contemplating' our worries, it would be best to let God take those and contemplate his instructions or promises instead!

Your decrees have been the theme of my songs wherever I have lived. I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord; therefore, I obey your instructions. (Psalm 119:54-55)

I often use the term 'cogitate' when I want to get the point across that I need time to reflect upon something that is troubling me, or that I need time to ponder how it is a solution could be found. When we 'cogitate', we are envisioning a certain way a thing is or could be. We see it this way, then that way, until we have dissected it into 'manageable pieces'. An apt word we use today to describe this process is 'brainstorming'. It is as though our brains are mulling through all the ideas, envisioning this or that, then we kick out the bad ones and keep ruminating on the better ones. Sometimes God's word can do that within our thoughts - helping us consider all the different ways we have been handling life's challenges, all the while helping us to 'kick out' the bad ways and focus on the better ones.

Obedience doesn't have to be difficult, but if we refuse to take the time to allow reflection upon his word, there is really nothing to help us sort out the stuff we need to 'kick out' of our minds. We retain way too much 'stuff' in our brains that doesn't need to be influencing our decisions, don't we? Things we see on TV, hear at work, listen to on the radio, see in print, or just 'make up' because we don't understand what is happening. We make obedience more difficult when we don't allow times of reflection upon his word to 'sort out' the stuff that needs to go and cement the stuff that needs to remain. Reflection is a time when our minds are being made healthier. We need these times more than we might realize. I set aside time each day for a bit of reflection. How about you? If it is not a habit with you yet, why not begin today? The time you take today to sort out the stuff that just muddles up the mind might just be the beginning of something good! Just sayin!

In short order

Do what God’s teaching says; don’t just listen and do nothing. When you only sit and listen, you are fooling yourselves. Hearing God’s teaching and doing nothing is like looking at your face in the mirror and doing nothing about what you saw. You go away and immediately forget how bad you looked. But when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard. (James 1:22-25)

I share often about 'hearing', but 'doing' nothing with what we 'hear'. Why? The importance of being a 'doer of the Word' cannot be outlived, outsourced, or outdone! We need to incorporate the Word of God into our daily lives - making the teachings therein the source of our instructions on how to live with one another. Ever look at yourself in the mirror and be so dissatisfied with what you are seeing that you just turned away and tried to forget what you saw? You likely wanted a 'different picture' reflected back, but we don't get a 'different picture' until Christ makes a difference in our hearts.

When we look into the Word of God, the 'picture' we see reflected back to us can either be quite concerning, or perhaps it is quite satisfying. The difference is determined in how much the Word of God has become more than just 'good words' to us. When the Word of God is allowed to ruminate deep within our spirit, we find there will be a change of heart that affects our minds and eventually begins to affect our 'appearance'. I am not sure how God does all that work within us to make us 'new', but I am confident he has begun it in each of us. We may not see the reflection today that we expected to see, or even hoped was possible, but we can trust that when we are taking in the Word and allowing it to work within us, the reflection is changing.

Many believe the Word of God is outdated, but truth is never outdated or outdone. Truth remains when all else fades away. We might have been believing something that is 'close to truth' in our lives, but it actually is not truth at all. If we allow all manner of 'untruth' to come into our lives, we might just find ourselves getting a little confused as to what is really true. If we want answers, we look to the Word of God, not some show on TV or self-help guru. We find truth in Christ and him alone. Our 'reality' is sometimes clouded by what we have 'added to' truth within our lives. Ask God to ferret out any untruth we have believed, and he will go about this work in rather short order. Just sayin!

Oh, you aren't all that big after all!

When the sun is just right, even the smallest subject can cast a huge shadow. The object seems to be 'larger that life', even though it is actually quite small. I stop for periods of time and consider things - sometimes stuff others might just not stop long enough, or consider important enough, to think on.  I began to "ponder" shadows as I am currently in a climate where the sun hasn't been out in days, so no shadows have been cast by the sun. The lights in the condo where I am staying are what affords the shadows right now and it is amazing what you can create from simple objects such as your hands and fingers when the lamplight is reflected upon the wall. As you look at the various shadows, you can ponder what you may be seeing and tell yourself many a story that way!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  (Psalm 23:4 NKJV)

Psalm 23 is one of the most "popular" psalms in the Bible because it is so frequently recited at the graveside - from times way back until common day.  As a means of some comfort, the loved ones are reminded God walks with both their loved ones and them, even in the valley of the SHADOW of death.  Now, I don't know if you have ever experienced any death in your life, but as a nurse, I have seen more than my share.  I don't ever recall a literal "shadow", but I certainly see the "results" of a shadow in these times! Shadows require some light, but they also require something to intersect with the light so that the shadow is cast. 

Shadows have a way of appearing out of almost nowhere, not in the absence of light, but because of the light!  No light - no shadow.  The dawning and brilliance of light brings the evidence of the shadows.  Interestingly, taken to the spiritual side of this equation, you will begin to see no shadow exists in your life apart from the light of Christ exposing it because your life 'intersects' with his. Shadows have a way of reflecting something which is really out of perspective.  Consider your shadow at noon.  Because the light of the sun is right overhead, your shadow is very small - kind of like a really squatty version of you!  At 4 p.m., your shadow may be very long, skinny and taller than reality!  Either way, the "perspective" is a skewed image of the real.  You really are not squatty and small - nor are you an elongated version capable of making headlines in the world record book!  In other words, shadows do not always reflect reality.

Since we understand shadows are based on the perspective we might have related to the "light" in our lives, God is reminding us to focus on the one who gives the light, not on the shadow cast because it does not reflect the reality of the circumstance.  Shadows reflect something real, but just out of right perspective.  A mirror does a much better job of reflecting an image, but it is still not three-dimensional and does not reflect reality.  A shadow only shows us one dimension - limited perspective of reality, just as the mirror. To only focus on the image we see in the mirror, or the one cast in the shadow, will lead us to interpret things from the limited perspective we have.  

We see the "hugeness" of the shadow and assume the "thing" we are viewing is greater than we can overcome.  Our psalmist reminds us, we walk THROUGH the valley of the shadow - it doesn't consume us, it doesn't hold us captive - we get through it when we focus on the light which illuminates and exposes the shadow, not the other way around.  We need the "three-dimensional" viewpoint - only God holds this vantage!  As we begin to see what "casts" the shadow, instead of the shadow, we gain perspective.  Look in the opposite direction of the shadow and you will see the light!

A shadow is merely a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light.  Get it?  When we actually see something intercepted by light we are seeing the light "stopped" by something in its way.  The shadow is the result of the light coming into contact with the obstacle.  If all we see is the shadow, we will never really understand the object being reflected by the light.  We see some "image", but it may appear larger than life!  I wonder just how many things we "view" from the perspective of "larger than life" simply because we are considering the "shadow" and not the object itself?  Just sayin!

Will you be my mirror?

"We look into mirrors but we only see the effects of our times on us - not our effects on others." (Pearl Bailey)  Some of us do a whole lot of "mirror gazing" to see what effect we are having on this world, when in truth we need to be doing a lot more gazing into the eyes of someone other than ourselves to really determine this fact!  The eyes are the window to the soul - if we escape taking in what they may reveal because we are too focused on gazing upon ourselves, we might just miss out on some pretty important stuff God intended for us. Things in this life are not meant to be learned in a vacuum. God put us together with other people because they reflect back to us more of us than we can ever see by gazing upon what WE see reflected in the mirror!

Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love.  Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created, with peace binding you together.  (Ephesians 4:2-3 VOICE)

I am certain we all have a little issue with "mirror gazing" on occasion - it is part of human nature to look intently at ourselves, all the while missing the impact "our selves" have had on the people around us.  A perfect example of this is when we last had an argument with someone.  It is not uncommon for us to spend some time "mirror gazing" either before we launch into the exchange of words, or even afterwards.  What we are doing is "rehearsing" either what we will say, how we will react, or what we did say and how we reacted, perhaps with a critique of how we could have done it "better".  The issue with US focusing on US in the mirror is this idea of seeing only a partial image reflected back.

When I do my hair in the morning, I like to prop the medicine cabinet door open a little bit, allowing a reflection of the back of my head into the mirror in front of me.  Have you ever tried to get at that one lock of hair which seemed to be reluctant to do what you want it to do while gazing at yourself in the mirror?  You move your hand what appears to be "right" or "left" and it seems to be going the opposite direction!  You forget the reflection is reversed.  So when you want to move toward that stray lock, you are actually moving away!  Maybe this is why we shouldn't rely upon the image we "see" reflected back at us - we aren't always able to "interpret" it correctly!

As Ms. Bailey indicated, mirrors reflect the effects of life on us, but they do little to reflect the effect of our lives on others. To really get a good look at how we are "doing" in life we might just take a good look into the eyes of those we are working with, living everyday life around, and interacting with the most.  What we see reflected back about ourselves is often quite revealing!  The problem with the mirror is the limited dimensions it can display back to us.  Human beings reflect things back in living color, with all the dimensions fully illustrated for our beholding.  We might feel more "secure" with the mirror, because we don't want ALL the dimensions to be reflected back, but God didn't plan for us to only see ourselves from one or two dimensions.  He operates in a pretty multi-dimensional world, looking at us from the inside out!  He doesn't discount what cannot be seen, but seeks to uncover it by having it reflected back to us through the eyes of another.  Just sayin!

Mirror, mirror on the wall....

To truly see ourselves, we need more than a mirror, don't we?  In fact, I can only see "one side" of me when I am looking in a mirror.  Even if I have a mirror in front of me and one in back, I can only get the perspective of either the back or the front, but truthfully not the whole.  Mirrors have limits, don't they?  I can see what my eye can take in, but beyond that, I am powerless to identify what might just be a little bit out of my focus.  Mirrors also do something we don't actually think about too much until we try to do something very "tactile" such as cutting our own hair.  Try trimming a few wayward strands yourself and you will see what I mean - those scissors appear to be going in the exact opposite direction as you are trying to make them go!  Why?  You are seeing a "mirror image" - the complete opposite of what is reality.  To move the scissors to the left in the mirror, you must move them to the right for real!  The mirror gives a reflection, but truthfully, it cannot do as well as if we had someone cutting our hair for us!  We need the perspective they get because they see as it is, not as it is reflected!  

You see your face in a mirror and your thoughts in the minds of others. (Proverbs 27:19 CEV)

I recently took a trip through the desert on the way to the coast and observed acres and acres of large reflective panels mounted so as to catch the rays of the sun, obviously producing energy for some utility company.  These panels were huge and there literally were miles of them.  The ones I could see were shining brightly and obviously doing just exactly what they were put there to do - reflect light!  Did you stop to consider how a mirror actually works? Without getting all technical on you, the basics of a mirror is to reflect back light rays.  As with all forms of light "energy", it must "go somewhere" - either be absorbed by what it hits, go through it, or bounce back from it.  If it is a transparent piece of glass, it goes through it. If it is a leaf on a plant, it is absorbed.  If it is a "darkly colored" object, it reflects the light back.  So, a mirror is a painted piece of glass (with a dark side under the glass), designed to get the light bouncing off of our bodies and objects around us to be "reflected back" as images of the real thing. 

If the mirror is pretty close to flat and of a high quality, what is reflected back is pretty close to the original - so you can trust the reflection to point out what you want to see.  If it bends inward at the center, like those on the acres of open land in the desert, the light converges and you get something known as magnification.  We want magnification if we are trying to pluck a wayward grey hair from our eyebrows, or observe the tiny speck of irritating stuff lodged in our eye.  We don't want magnification when we are trying on a new outfit in a dressing room to see if it is "flattering" to us!  In fact, we might want the opposite - like a mirror which takes off 20 pounds!  Now, go back to what I said about mirrors seeming to "flip" things left to right.  You are attempting to find that wayward straggler of an eyebrow and you move your tweezers a little this way or that.  If you become quite proficient at it, you actually accomplish removing the wayward hair.  What you have to recognize is that the mirror does not "flip" the image you see - you do!  You react to what you see and then move the object this way or that, thinking it will "right" the image in your mind.

The truth is, the mirror did not change the image - it is a true reflection of what is there - you did the "flipping"!  You changed the position of the scissors or tweezers because you expected it to appear differently - your mind formed the image you expected to see rather than the exact image you did see.  Now, at first this may not seem significant, but go back to the passage we have for today's study and see it afresh.  You and I can see whatever we want to see when we look at our reflection in the mirror.  We might tell our minds one thing, thereby influencing what we believe to see reflected in the mirror.  The truth is probably not seen until another helps us "ferret out" what our mind has been telling us about our "reflection" which may not be close to the truth!

This is why the Word of God is sometimes called a mirror - it reflects back things we might not see without it!  Yet, we don't want to accept the mirror's reflection at face value sometimes, right?  Why?  We have allowed our minds to tell us something different than what the mirror is reflecting!  We need the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit within to help us sort out the true image of what we are seeing reflected through the Word.  In much the same manner, we need each other to help expose the what is hidden within the mind which plays tricks on what we see reflected when we look into the mirror.  Have you ever noticed how well you might receive something from a faithful friend, while you have been struggling to get at the same truth yourself by looking intently into the mirror of the Word?  The friend is able to go beyond the reflection to see the truth hidden deep within - something we might need a little more of if we are to begin to see an accurate reflection of just who we are.  Just sayin!

Honesty opens doors to healing

Wise words come from people of understanding.  People of understanding are able to speak of a situation in a completely different manner because they grasp the meaning of the situation.  The fool just cannot get the same grasp on the circumstances of life - they might babble on a lot, but the things they speak really don't bring clarity, or shed much light on the matter.  A fool cannot size up the situation because a fool seldom learns from his past experiences.  As if to point out the difference between the fool and the wise, the writer of Proverbs pens these words:  The road to life is a disciplined life; ignore correction and you’re lost for good. (10:17 MSG)  In order to walk in the pathway of life, we must accept discipline (correction).  The fool has a hard time with this - so they repeat the mistakes they've made over and over again.  If we want to live "rich" lives, we need to embrace discipline - for discipline is the road to true "richness".

God's blessing makes life rich; nothing we do can improve on God. (Proverbs 10:22 MSG)

If you haven't guessed it by now, I think God really looks for people to be honest, not necessarily perfect.  I think we get this a little messed up on occasion - thinking God expects our perfection.  The fool has a hard time being honest - making an honest appraisal of his actions, openly admitting his failures, being transparent about where he struggles the most.  The wise find the means to growth to be this life of transparency.  Honest appraisal of where you are, what keeps you struggling, and what you find you have the least control over in your own life is the beginning of learning.  We cannot learn when we don't recognize our "ignorance".  Honesty is the doorway to wisdom.

I think there are some things God expects in his relationship with is kids - these aren't optional - they are the basis of good relationships.  These principles certainly apply to our relationship with Christ, but they also apply in each and every relationship we have in life.

- There is no room for hidden hatred.  When we bury our disdain, trying desperately to hide our loathing of a person or thing, we just bury it - it never really gets dealt with.  When we bury stuff, it leads to anger, bitterness, and division in relationships.  God knows we struggle with certain things - liking some things we would do well to turn our backs on and turning away from other things because they are just too hard to deal with or we just feel so repulsed by them.  When we refuse to bury the stuff which is too hard to deal with, we open ourselves up for the opportunity to learn what it will take to get past it.  When we will not accept constantly embracing the wrong stuff, we get to a place where we begin to desire different outcomes in our lives.  This is the value of honesty in relationship - it keeps the stuff above the surface, until it is dealt with in the manner which will resolve the conflict we feel in the first place.  When the conflict is settled - through honest and open discussion with the one who can resolve it - we all maintain health in our relationships.

- There is no room for slander.   Slander fosters further sin because loose lips really do sink ships (relation-ships).  Slander is any untruth which misrepresents the facts.  I think we have lots of this in relationships - even our relationship with God.  We don't want to be honest - because honest words can sometimes bite a little - so we tell the white lies.  Trust me, there are no white lies - a lie is a lie.  Anytime we settle for an untruth, we allow the facts to be distorted.  God is a God of the facts - he tells us like it is and he expects the same from us.  Since he knows the truth, we'd do well to just own up to the truth in the first place.  There is no need to cover up - slander just damages the reputation of the one who is being lied about.  When we lie about ourselves as we speak to God, we are only hurting ourselves.  If we make it a point to be open, above board with him, we will not engage in this dangerous habit of "masking" our reputation with lies.

- There is room for words which refresh and are reflective.  Sometimes we have no problem pointing out our faults to God, but we don't always allow him to speak back into our lives the words of refreshing he so eagerly desires to speak.  We can become too negative in our focus on occasion.  If we tend to go this route often enough, our tendency is to see our relationship with God as "never stacking up".  It is tough to have real freedom of sharing in a relationship where we always feel we have nothing to offer.  Words of reflection are like sweet honey - they pour over us, sticking to us, almost leaving a "residue" of having been touched by them.  This is how God works - he likes to leave little bits of himself in our lives after each encounter with is presence.  Words which refresh and are reflective are often his means of doing just this - so don't cut him off when he speaks - those words matter!

The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich and adds richness to the relationship - there is no room for sorrow or shame where there is a blessing. We need to remember the awesome potential we have in relationship with the one who loves us so deeply so as to bless us with each encounter.  Just sayin!

What do you see reflected?

Have you ever told yourself something only to find out in the end you were really just fooling yourself?  Until we actually look in the mirror, we don't see what is likely right in front of us all the time.  Even when we look into the mirror, we may not see exactly what we thought was there - because the mirror is clouded over with some film.  If you have ever taken a hot shower in a closed room, you find the mirror becomes all coated with the steam.  The coating on the mirror actually keeps you from seeing an accurate appearance of who you are.  Even if you try to wipe the steam away a little, the image you may see is still a little distorted by the remaining particles of water gathered on the mirror.  In actuality, the "image" never changes, just the reflection does!

If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.  (1 John 1:8-10 MSG)

John calls attention to this "reflection" process.  Here he presents a unique situation - if we claim to be free of sin, we are actually not seeing an accurate reflection of our true self.  As he states very certainly - we are just fooling ourselves (in fact, no one else is fooled - just us).  He calls this claim errant nonsense.  Errant - deviating from the regular course.  We usually call this deviation "straying".  Nonsense - conduct or action that is senseless or absurd.  In other words, John likens denying we are "sinless" as straying from what makes sense and can be considered a little absurd.  

On the other hand, if we admit our sin - we have an advocate to help us see our sin in the right perspective, but more importantly, we have the advocate to BRING us into right perspective.  There is no one more capable of bringing things into right perspective than Christ himself.  He does more than wipe the steam from the mirror, he also removes the sleep from our eyes.  He awakens us from our slumber - our inattentiveness.  By so doing, he brings us face to face with the "true us" - but as he sees us, not as we see ourselves.  

It is one thing to finally see ourselves - it is quite another to be brought into the right light.  As I have been teaching over the past couple of weeks, what seems obvious actually helps build an awareness of the obscure - but only if we are willing to see as we are seen.  Too many times, people tell me they are good and don't need a Savior.  The truth is no one is good enough to not need a Savior.  Those who admit they need a Savior often don't accept the finished work of the cross as the true "reflection" of who and what they are today.  They tell themselves the reflection they see is something other than what Christ sees.  

Here's the cold, hard truth - Christ sees us differently that we most often see ourselves.  Sure, he sees our sinfulness.  Yes, he sees our short-comings.  Definitely, he sees the moments of straying.  Yet...in all this, he sees something we often don't - himself!  Looking again at what John presents here, he says when we ask Jesus to "clean our mirrors", he does a thorough job so the reflection seen is one which bears only his image - no the image of our former life.  He sees the new - we focus on the old.  He clears away the gathered "steam" - we strain to see past it.  

What happens when we don't see an accurate reflection of ourselves?  We second-guess our ability and this affects our availability.  When we don't see ourselves as "matching" the image Christ sees, we don't feel worthy to be used by him.  We don't feel the purpose we fulfill is really all that worthwhile.  We even begin to question if we really will ever change.  Reality check here, folks!  You are a new creation in Christ Jesus - as such, you have already been transformed and as you continue to go through the process of seeing your actions align with your new image, he is right there alongside, still seeing you exactly as he has made you - perfect in every way.  God will be true to himself by making perfect what he declares to be perfect.  He keeps the image of our perfection before him - maybe we'd do well to begin to focus on this reflection instead of the one we've been considering for so long!  Just sayin!

Reflect this!

There are some days I would not want you to read my mind!  The story being told inside there is just a little too weird for you to listen to - or maybe a little too critical of another, a little too warped from reality, or a little too self-aggrandizing to be of any benefit to another.  Regardless of the "story" told there, it just isn't a pleasant place for you to go, much less for me to dwell for very long!  The truth be told, we all struggle with "stories" in our mind which really reveal much about us an individuals.  "Stories" which don't exactly reveal the identity we want others to see.  

As water reflects your face, so your mind shows what kind of person you are. (Proverbs 27:19 NCV)

Why do you think our writer equates the mirroring effect of still water with our minds?  If you remember from past blogs, the "heart" of a man is really somewhere in the brain - the seat of our emotions, rational thought, and even irrational thought.  As such, it is a "repository" of all kinds of things - good and bad alike.  In scripture, we are told:  "Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts."  (Luke 6:45 NCV)  Do you recognize this passage?  In the more traditional translations, it reads, "...of the abundance of the heart, a man speaks."  So, in the most literal sense, our hearts really do act as a "reflection" of what is contained within us.

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to hide what is going on in your mind?  The face betrays you on more occasions than you think.  Try as you might, what is really rolling around in the recesses of your mind gets revealed on your face.  It is a mirror!  Try to hide your regret over some person's actions and you will be able to do it for a short period of time.  Those actions repeated become "reruns" in your mind - your mind replaying the past times when you experienced the same or similar disappointments.  Soon, what is reflected is really the image of this disappointment you hold in your mind.  This being the case, the mind is key to what others "see" in us.  We don't give our minds enough credit for what gets "displayed" in our lives - maybe it is about time we did!

Jesus points the disciples to the heart - good people bringing good stuff from their hearts; evil people bringing just the opposite.  Ultimately, we speak the things in our heart - no denying this one!  What we "rerun" in our minds soon becomes the place we turn to quite often because this thought pattern is familiar to us.  Maybe this is why we are told to hide scripture there!  In times when we need to "rerun" stuff in our minds, I wonder what would be reflected if we began to rerun the scripture we put there right alongside that "bad memory"?  You see, you don't displace the bad until the new becomes the habit.  Rerunning the scripture when you want to "plug into" the memory of the bad soon makes the "go to" for our brain the scripture instead of the not so edifying memory.

Broken hearts become new not by trying to "pretty it up" with some kind of fluffy thought, or imaginary "mask" we try to hide behind.  Even behind the mask, the words we speak betray what is really "reflected" from our hearts.  So, if we want good reflections, we need to learn what we reflect upon most often!  Wouldn't it be awesome if our face reflected the hope Jesus brings over the pain of our past, rather than the images of that pain?  Just sayin!

Throw me another bone, please!

I haven't had a dog in years now, but I remember the extreme joy and passion my pooch would exhibit whenever I brought home a bone for her.  She'd waggle every part of her hind quarters and tail, almost trembling in delight over the promised ecstasy of the treat.  For hours, she'd gnaw away at that treat, savoring each and every morsel.  In short order, the bone would be picked clean of any sign of grizzle, remaining meat, and even sometimes much of the bone itself would be chewed down.  I'd hear her working on that thing for hours - sometimes having to take it away from her at night just so we'd be able to get to sleep!  She'd always see where I'd put it up out of her reach, knowing full-well where to find it the next day.  There she'd be sitting as soon as I woke up - ready to take on the task of chewing on it again.  Such persistence and perseverance.  I wonder if we have this same kind of reaction to God's Word?

Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone, rolls virtue around on his tongue.  His heart pumps God’s Word like blood through his veins; his feet are as sure as a cat’s.  (Psalm 37:30-31 MSG)

Our psalmist points out this type of "tenacity" as being evident in a believer's consideration of the wisdom God provides and the integrity which is revealed in our speech.  We are to "chew on" wisdom like a dog takes on the bone.  What are some of the things I pointed out about my dog's encounter with the bone?  First - there was excitement which could barely be contained.  I wonder if we exhibit much excitement over the wisdom God brings into our lives?  Second - there was the "show" of interest in what was provided.  As she'd waggle her entire rear end, I knew she was going to take great delight in this treat.  I wonder if God sees any "show" of interest in what he provides on a daily basis in our lives.  The "treat" for my dog was occasional - God's "treats" are continual.  Third - her constant effort to "pick apart" the morsels of meat and grizzle left on that bone were evident in watching her turn it over and over, holding it close to her, sometimes changing positions so she'd get the right "grip" on it.  I wonder if we ever do that with God's truth in our lives - "repositioning" ourselves so we get a "better grip" on it.

We are also to "roll" virtue around on our tongue.  In other words, our speech is to reflect the integrity (uprightness) of the wisdom we have been taking in. I notices something after my dog had spent a few hours with her bone - her breath usually smelled better.  Why?  The turning over of the bone time and time again, and the constant chewing of the bone provided a cleansing effect for her teeth.  I think God's Word "rolled over our tongues" time and time again has a way of "cleaning up" what comes out of our mouths!  

Being a nurse, I really get the idea of blood coursing through the veins - steadily moving because of the "pumping power" of the heart itself.  Without the heart moving it, the blood becomes stagnant - it cannot come back to the place where it is "restored" and "revitalized".  You see, blood enters the heart and lungs to become re-oxygenated.  If it remained away from the heart and lungs, it would not carry much life.  As it passes through the liver and kidneys, it is "cleaned up" so it can go back to finding impurities, bringing them again to the "filtering stations" in the body, all the while assisting the body in keeping impurities from adversely building up.  Veins are like highways - they sometimes get "blockages".  If the veins are not well-maintained, these blockages can actually stop the flow of blood.  So, if we want to have a health "flow" of blood, we take care of the "highways".  I think we must pay as much attention to what "pumps" through our minds - the "spiritual and emotional" heart, so to speak.  If we don't allow God's word to permeate our minds, the "filters" we need to remove the impurities in our thoughts, words, and actions will not be there.  If we don't have a regular intake of his Word, the "highways" of our mind and spirit will soon become clogged with stuff just giving us "blockages" we cannot ignore forever.

I have also had cats.  Those amazing critters seem to be able to climb the walls and walk across some of the thinnest objects with the greatest of ease. Their tiny paws curving to grip the surface upon which they traverse.  Two things strike me about the cat - their ability to "bound" and their "balance".  They can be seen "bounding" straight up into the air, overcoming the space between them and their desired object.  The purpose of their "bound" is both to pursue and to attain.  They are eagerly "after" an object of their interest, or they are seeking a new vantage point.  Both are lessons we'd do well to learn.  Their ability to balance is also almost beyond our understanding - but if you know anything about cats, you know they have this amazing ability to "right" themselves even when they are falling.  There is a "tuning in" to where their head is in respect to their feet.  If their head is facing up, their feet will always be securely facing down!  

So, just some little trinkets to ponder today.  Let them muddle in your mind a while today and see if God can use any of them to speak to you.  In essence, as we study together, we are chewing on the Word like a dog chews on a bone!  Just sayin!

Gaze on!

  ⁵⁴ Your decrees have been the theme of my songs wherever I have lived.

 ⁵⁵ I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord; therefore, I obey your instructions.  ⁵⁶ This is how I spend my life: obeying your commandments.

(Psalm 119:54-56 The New Living Bible)

⁵⁴ Your laws are the songs I sing wherever I am living. ⁵⁵ LORD, in the night I remembered your name, and I obeyed your teachings. ⁵⁶ This happened because I carefully obey your instructions.

(Psalm 119:54-56 Easy-to-Read Version)

I gave us a couple of versions of this passage to read this morning so that we can put together some thoughts.  In examining this passage, several "themes" became apparent:

- David has made following God's decrees (his Word) his way of "doing business".  He has a lot of choices (as do we) in dealing with the stress of life. His choice was to turn to God.  Wherever he was "living" - there God was in his midst - right down to the songs he sang.  Have you ever noticed how easy it is to remember a passage of scripture when it is set to song?  Think about some of the praise and worship songs you sing in your church.  Many come from the psalms and are rally portions of scripture.  We are moved by those songs - because the Word was meant to be rehearsed until it had impact.  Songs will do that - they get into the core of our being.  That is why we find ourselves hearing a little bit of a song and then we "can't get it out of our head".  

- David reflects often and frequently on God's Word.  It is in this reflection that most of the impact is made in his life.  This is the idea of "pondering".  It is in the "pondering" that the reflection of Christ is evident in our lives.  To reflect is to allow the reproduction of what is beheld.  As David takes time to behold his Lord, he begins to notice that there is evidence of that reflection apparent in his life - it is evident in the actions that reflection produces.

- Reflection helps to get us to the point of obedience.  The product, or result, of reflecting upon Jesus is a change in our activity.  We move from a place of self-direction into a place of reliance upon God.  We gravitate toward choices that will build up our spirit rather than tear or weigh it down.  We tend to display love and mercy, as it has been displayed to us in the reflection we see of Christ.  David makes no excuses - obedience was not his first choice in life. Neither is it ours!  It was in the continual reflection upon God's Word that his choices were changed.

- Life doesn't just happen; it is orchestrated and planned out in the moments we take in reflection upon God's Word.  Look again at what David says - your laws are the songs I sing where I am living.  We need an "orchestra" leader to pull together all the parts of our lives into some ordered symphony of praise!  Without some "leadership", the "parts" are just that - parts.  When God leads our lives, the "parts" become a "symphony" of praise and adoration - they bring honor to the one who orchestrates the parts!

Look at what David reflects upon - who God is.  Not just on what God does, but on who he is.  When we come to understand the character of God, we often see the flaws of those we have been influenced by in our past living.  Those influences may not have produced good things within our lives, but God always does!  It is one thing to think highly and praise someone for doing good stuff.  It is quite another to appreciate, honor, and reverence someone because of the good that makes up their character.  

David got to know the character of God in the wee hours of the night - in the times of quiet reflection upon what he experienced that day.  In the failures of our day, God's reflection back to us is mercy.  In the moments of anger or frustration, God's reflection back to us is peace and love.  In the times of wrong choices, God's reflection back to us is a new start.  No wonder David finds reflection such a rewarding and uplifting pursuit!

If we struggle with "getting to" a place of obedience in our lives, perhaps we could begin where David did - in times of reflecting upon God.  He clearly says that obedience was an outcome of seeing things through God's eyes - that is what reflection really is.  When you look into a mirror, you are seeing what others see!  When we look into Jesus, we are seeing what he sees!  So, gaze on!  Reflect until the reflection you see is that of Jesus in you - the hope of GLORY!

Learning to reflect

 How can a young person stay pure?
      By obeying your word.

(Psalm 119:9)

When we are seeking answers, God is the one who keeps watch over what we are searching for - he guides us to the answers.  Our passage today may be familiar to some, yet new to others.  The neat thing about God's word is that no matter how many times you read it, you can find new encouragement for today.  If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we really don't know how to keep our lives on track 100% of the time - we have a tendency to "drift" into stuff that is convenient, easiest, etc.  These things that are most convenient are seldom the best for us - what comes too easily is often something that will have the least benefit for our lives.

That is exactly why some struggle with the study of God's word - it is not always easy to find the meaning in the message!  It seems "veiled" or kind of difficult to  fully grasp.  Yet, David writes that a person desiring to have a pure heart will hide that word deep in the heart - deep enough to have it impact our emotions, thoughts, and actions.  We may not fully understand what it is that we read, but when we are doing it from a heart that desires to be made pure, God will take what we read and help us use it as we need it.


The simple truth is that a man or woman of purity will delight in the principles God teaches.  When we delight in the intake of God's word, it brings us close to the heart of God.  When we go one step further, by delighting in the embracing of that word, learning to follow it, we excite God's heart.  The word of God is not a magical book of "spells" that one can quote and see things happen in a "poof".  It is a record of God's extreme love, his unending grace, and his uncompromising values.  From the pages of the word, we find evidence of grace, causing us to trust in the unmerited favor of a holy God in welcoming us into his presence.


Purity is the result of embracing the direction (instruction) of the Lord found within the word of God.  Principles can be taught by anyone - but they are of no value if they are not embraced.  David's advice to us is that we embrace God's principles by "rehearsing" them frequently.  He tells us to hide them in our heart - bringing them up over and over again until they become foundational in our lives.  What may not make sense to us at one point in our lives may be just what we need at a later time.  When it is hidden in the recesses of our hearts, it is there when the time arises.


Study is the application of information - the intense searching until we become satisfied with what is learned.  Reflection is the ability to bring to memory (over and over again) what it is that we have put within through the process of study.  We may not fully understand, but our intensity in searching helps us come to the place of learning.  In times of reflection, the "learning" is cemented.  It is in the reflection that what is "put in" during times of study becomes rich and meaningful - simply because of the frequency of exposure to the truth we are considering.


So, don't grow weary in learning to reflect upon what is not immediately apparent in God's word - it may take a little reflection to bring out the richness of the truths contained.  In the reflecting times, we are delighting God's heart.