Jesus Eyes and Jesus Ears

One of the things that I strive to always do is look at others throught the eyes of Jesus and listen to what they say with His ears.  Here's why.  When I look at others without my Jesus eyes, I tend to notice their faults instead of their gifts.  When I listen to what others say without my Jesus ears, I tend to hear only what comes out of their mouth instead of hearing what is coming out of their heart.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that we should always overlook or ignore things that others do to hurt us or not hold others accountable for their actions.  What I am saying is that we need to remember that a person is not made up of just his/her bad choices.  When Jesus looks at us, He looks right past our imperfections and straight into our hearts.  He sees something good because He was there at creation, and He knows that we are good.  My husband says that I am naive.  He thinks that I let people walk all over me.  Maybe according to the standards of the world I am too nice, but the moment that I accepted Jesus Christ as my saviour I began to hold myself to a higher standard.  I wish that I could say that I have always stayed the course, but the truth is that I was out of church and away from God for a number of years.  Notice that I said that I was away from God.  He never left me.  I give thanks to Him for staying with me even when I wasn't serving Him.  I know that it was His hand that kept me safe and kept me out of trouble during a time in my life when I wasn't making very good choices.  It was the voice of the Holy Spirit calling me to draw near to God and find a church home over nine years ago.  It was the same voice that encouraged me to do more than just attend church.  It encouraged me to get involved and put my faith into action because the Bible tells us that faith without action is dead.  It is that same gentle Spirit that helps me to look past the drug addiction, the alcohol addiction, the pornography addiction, the laziness, the dishonesty, the adultry, the selfishness, the hatefullness that I see in people.  It reminds me that underneath all of that junk is a hurting soul that needs the healing touch of Jesus, and I might be the vessel that He has chosen to reach them.  I am humbled that He would choose me for such a task.  I don't think that I am worthy, but I know that as His vessel, it is He that will be doing all of the work if I will just agree to let Him work through me.  I was reminded of this one morning on my way to work.  Derwin Grey was on the radio talking about a conversation between Jesus and Gabriel.  He said that Gabriel was surprised to learn that Jesus' plan for spreading the good news about what He had done for us depended on a group of diciples that followed Him.  Gabriel asked if there was a better way to spread the word to the ends of the earth, and Jesus replied that he was counting on us.  Counting on me and you.  Can you believe that?  There are people all around us who are hurting in ways that we can't even imagine.  They pass by us and even speak to us every day.  We are often too busy to notice.  My prayer today is that God will bless us all with the eyes and ears of Jesus and that we will notice and reach out to the hurting people that He sends our way each day.

Blessed

The kids have been on Spring Break this week.  We didn't have the money to go anywhere, but we have had fun hanging out at home.  My girls are country girls, and, while they do love the beach, they had a blast playing in the mud one day, and Ellen has enjoyed getting to know her horse again.  She has always been very good at it, so I was very happy to see her get back in the saddle this week.  The best part for me was not getting up at 5:30 every day!  I just don't think God intended for us to get up before the sun!  This morning my Saturday morning Zumba class was held in the Town Center instead of at the gym.  There was a fundraiser held today for a little boy who is 2 and has an inoperable brain tumor.  His family has been going through a very difficult time.  I can't even imagine.  Today as I was doing Zumba in the cool morning air with the sun smiling down on me, I thanked God.  I thanked him for the beautiful weather, for the fact that I am able to move my body no matter how funny it looks, and I thanked him for my girls who are both healthy and cancer free!  I have struggled with our financial difficulties this week and have grieved a little about not being able to do some of the things that I would like to do for myself, my home and my family.  Today God reminded me that I am blessed beyond measure because I have my health, my home and my family:)

That Darn Blackberry Plant!

So, remember that darn blackberry plant that my husband planted by the porch?  The one that has been there for years and finally died?  The one that I was so happy to cut back to the ground because it was finally dead, and I never liked it planted there to begin with?  Yep, that one.  I discovered today that in its place are 3 new sprouts!  Do you think that God is trying to tell me something?!  What I thought was dead is alive again the day before I celebrate the resurrection of my Lord and Saviour!  My husband was so happy!  In fact, I only saw one sprout, but he was so happy to let me know that there were 3!  My Mom said that I should just dig it up and replant it somewhere else, but I know that it will probably die if I do, and then my husband would surely be upset.  I guess I'll just leave it where its at and let it be a reminder that no person or situation is hopeless until God says it is hopeless.  I see those little sprouts and think of loved ones or maybe even just acquaintances that have made and continue to make some really bad choices.  Many people have given up on them.  Many have told them that they are hopeless and that they will never amount to anything.  I have myself had days where I cried out to God and told Him that I just don't think they are ever going to change.  Then I see those sprouts and am reminded that God can make something from nothing.  He can take bad choices and use them to make strong people with amazing testimonies.  After all, he made man from dirt and breathed life into him.  He can surely breath new life into people and blackberry bushes that  we had long ago given up on.

I woke up this morning with Jesus on my mind.  I wish that I could say that He is the first thing that I think of every morning, but I have to be honest and admit that my brain isn't fully functioning at 5:30, and I'm focusing what is awake on getting my daughter up and cooking her breakfast.  Today, though, my mind was on Jesus and the agony that He suffered for me and you.  I have said that I can't imagine suffering that way for others, but He wasn't just suffering for anybody.  He was suffering for His creation.  He was there when the world was created, and he came in the form of man to live and die and rise again so that His creation could spend eternity with Him.  My husband and I have created two beautiful daughters, and I know that I would do the same for them.  I would suffer to end their suffering.  I would go hungry so that they could eat.  I would give them the clothes on my back to keep them warm.  I would give my life for their life.  This is the love that Jesus has for us.  Today as we were riding through the country, we passed a paved road with a gate.  We have passed it many times before, but today as we passed my 9 year old said, "Rich people live there."  She is old enough now to realize that some people have more than others.  I replied, "We are rich too."  She said, "No, we're not."  I replied, "We are rich with Jesus.  We are rich with a healthy family."  She said, "Oh, yeah."    You see, at an early age we begin to see the world through worldly eyes instead of Godly eyes.  This evening when I sat down to read my devotion for today it was about focusing on things that we do have instead of things that we don't have.  The author, Sarah Young, began by talking about all of the delicious fruit that Eve had in the Garden of Eden, yet she focused on the one she couldn't have instead of being thankful for all that she did have.  She went on to say, "When you focus on what you don't have or on situations that displease you, your mind also becomes darkened.  you take for granted life, salvation, sunshine, flowers, and countless other gifts from (God).  You look for what is wrong and refuse to enjoy life until that is fixed."  I thought again about that gate and the nicely paved road that leads to a house that we have never even seen.  I live a mile down a dirt road that is riddled with pot holes.  Some days the pot holes really drive me nuts!  What really bothers me most about the pot holes is not that they are there, but that they are there because we have been humbled in a huge way over the last 4 years and can't afford to buy the gravel to fix the pot holes.  There it is.  The ugly truth.  My devotion today reminded me that I can choose to focus on the pot holes and worry about not having a paved road with a gate, or I can choose to be thankful for the home that I have at the end of the pot holes.  It isn't much, but it's mine.  My children have grown up here, and they wouldn't want to live anywhere else.  My hope is in God.  It isn't in my road or my home.  It isn't in the car I drive or the clothes that I wear.  Yes, today I woke up with Jesus on my mind, and I'm so thankful that over 2,000 years ago, He died with me on His.