Daniel 7:1-28; 1 John 1:1-10; Psalm 119:153-176; Proverbs 28:23-24
“As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed. I, Daniel, was troubled by all I had seen, and my visions terrified me. So I approached one of those standing beside the throne and asked him what it all meant. He explained it to me like this: ‘These four huge beasts represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth. But in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever.’”
“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.”
“O Lord, listen to my cry; give me the discerning mind you promised. Listen to my prayer; rescue me as you promised. Let praise flow from my lips, for you have taught me your decrees. Let my tongue sing about your word, for all your commands are right. Give me a helping hand, for I have chosen to follow your commandments.”
“In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery.”
Several weeks ago, my son was reading Isaiah when he suddenly stopped and turned to me. “Dad, how many years before Christ was Isaiah written?” When I told him it was thousands of years, he responded, “That’s crazy. He predicted everything!” Well, not quite, but close enough to prove he knew what he was talking about. In spite of all the political and economic turmoil and uncertainty Isaiah’s world included, he was able to persevere because he was attuned to the Word of God. He was able to look past the present and claim comfort from the future promises of the Lord, and that’s always a good place to be.
I know, we are told not to worry about tomorrow. But the key concept in that verse is worry, not tomorrow. Jesus didn’t tell us He would be coming again so we could forget it and live life as if we had no thought of, or excitement about, the future. He told us the future so we would have something to look forward to and something to motivate us.
Ask people where they get the courage and strength to even get out of bed in the morning, let alone put one foot in front of the other, and after the initial blank stares, the answers will be as varied as the people asked. But on a daily basis, the truth is many of us only think through our motivation when it is at a peak or at a trough. Normally, we just do what we do. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it sure can rob life of a lot of its colors and flavors. Doing things “just because” is neither a great motivator nor an indication of enthusiasm. And there’s the rub: the Holy Spirit wants us to understand and accept life as the adventure it was always intended to be, not as a mundane and humdrum existence. He wants to share His power and authority with us. He wants us to fully realize the potential of our purpose, “to bring all things together under one head, even Christ.” He wants us partnered with Him, helping to usher in His Kingdom. Yet we will never do any of those things – or, at best, we will never do them as well as we were created to do them – if we allow our vision to be limited to the here and now.
I’ve never lived on a farm, but I understand one of a rancher’s greatest fears is a fire in the horse barn. This is because horses have a distinct, instinctive aversion to fire. Even if the beasts have a clear path to safety, most of the time, flames either so intimidate or distract the animals that they cannot even be lead to safety without first having their heads covered. They must not be allowed to become obsessed with the things that might consume them because, in the process, they will become the instrument of their own destruction. Similarly, to most efficiently get a horse from point A to point B, they are frequently fitted with blinders. These simple devices restrict a horse’s peripheral vision and encourage focus on only what lies directly ahead. It helps clarify their vision of the target and direct their energy toward attaining it. One need only participate with kids in one of the many trail rides offered in Colorado (or, probably, elsewhere) to appreciate the importance of blinders. The non-blinded horses are all smarter about the ways of the trail than the city slickers riding them. Given any slack at all, they will quickly begin to graze the local vegetation or even venture off the path a bit on their own to test the authority of their riders. Quick, firm redirection of attention is always the best response to their go-yonder tendencies. It is always the best response to our own lack of focus, purpose and/or enthusiasm, too.
I’ve always looked forward to Christmas, and I’m not alone. The feelings and motivations of that season, especially for those who call themselves Christians, are unlike any other time of year. But God never intended the goodwill and charity of that Holy Day to dissipate over time. Christmas is all about God taking on human flesh. The Christian is all about giving themselves over to that process, allowing the Christ to rule our lives, and making our bodies a literal temple of the Holy Spirit. Adding two and two, then, we have some ability to make every day Christmas for someone. We have a daily chance to make Jesus more real to someone else. In the process, we also have the opportunity to see Him more clearly. That is definitely something to look forward to and a great reason to get out of bed in the morning!
Let us never forget that God wants us, and created us to be, focused on Him and His Victory, first, last and always. He does not want us bogged down in the details and despair of adverse circumstances. Nor does He desire that our blessings turn our attention from the Giver to the Gift. One of the gifts of this journaling is a forced focus on the eternal at the start of every day. Consequently, over the last several months in particular, the little inconveniences haven’t distracted or consumed me as much as they did. Very few things are as immediately necessary as I used to think they were. I have a better sense of who I was created to be, how I might achieve my true potential, and the end result of it all. But most important, I no longer forget as easily that the battle is already won. I no longer feel like such a victim, because I am more intentional about taking hold of the Lord’s power and strength from the get go. True, living in grace is still subject to its share of sharp and unexpected turns and bumps in the road. But at least, I now have a better reason for getting up in the morning and working through the day. At some point, I expect to see Christ, and with eyes wide open, I am never disappointed or bored with life.
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