God loves people in EVERY walk of life. I am challenged to never forget to see each person through the Father's eyes; and, as I allow myself to be an extension of His love to others, may I "see" into their need and not just visualize who they are because of what I see. It is as simple as John 3:16... "whosoever" is very inclusive with one decision. I hope as people read this it will challenge them in the same manner and pass it on to encourage us as the body of Christ to do the same.
Reel (Real) Life
One of my favorite past times is going to the movies. I love the "intrigue" of a good mystery of who done it; the "thrill" of a great action movie; the "will they ever get smart and get it together" in a good romance; or even the "incredible graphics" of a science fiction... and these are just to name a few. I think my only exception to movies is horror (which is self explanatory....I spent a majority of my life getting rid of fear; why would I invite fear into my life when I live a life of freedom from it).
With each movie I see, God speaks to me through it relating it to real life situation. I believe each and every person has a story, sometimes we cannot dream, fathom or even imagine how that story has played out. Each one so very different. I want to think everyone has their happy ending but... maybe the intrigue to them was a situation in their life leaving them injured with the question of "why did this happen to me?", or a hero's story filled with thrilling information of how "two minutes would have made all the difference"; it may be a love story of a person finding their true love and after marriage, finding out they have an illness that will shorten their time. All three of these situations represent real people with a story I have came across and was amazed by their life-story when I took the time to really see.
Most people "see" the intrigue of "why is she 500 lbs", or the "no-thrill is his life, he is just a drunk" or even the "he could never get a date". But what if we could be obedient to God when He tells us to see into their need. You have their answer....even for those living in a real life horror story filled with abuse, neglect and suffering who torture themselves with drugs long after their abuse from others is over. But, when you look at them do you just see another addict?
I know movies are not real life but this is just a small thought.......With movies, we pick and choose what we will and will not object ourselves to because of consequences IN our daily lives. But do we not also do that WITH our daily lives? Pick out who we do and do not want to get involved with because they have too many issues, have too many needs or those we would just choose to be disassociated with. If we are not helping the lowly, troubled, distraught, or those who some people would call "invaluable" (but will never say the word), those of us who has already perfected our image would already be in heaven. Lord help us never to disassociate ourselves from those people and may we view people in this world from Your eyes.
People are NEVER invaluable, whether it is the person who is trapped in a life of deception about what they do, who they are, or how they are portrayed. In fact, Jesus' life was given "for the least of these" in addition to ours before we became new. Help us to NEVER ignore those people who need Jesus; those people who do not know there is a way out; and those people who do know but cannot figure out how to get there. If we are not an extension of the Father's love to those people, then who will be. Heaven WILL be perfect, but may it not be because we leave out of the equation the people who we don't think deserves our time.
All too often we turn our back or walk away from those who maybe don't look so good, who doesn't smell so good, who maybe isn't"all there". In 1 Samuel 16:7,"Man (or woman) looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the inward (heart). We can never judge a book by it's cover, no more than we can judge a person by their outward appearance. "Many a diamond is found under a rough exterior."(my quote)! Let's look beyond the outward appearance and look deeply into a person's heart to see in the "real" person.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before, this is a powerful, and God-inspired blog. How true it is that we need to ask God to help us to see other people through His eyes and to purify us of critical, judgmental hearts. It is only then that we are to receive His blessings and to receive much-needed grace and forgiveness and forbearance ourselves. PS I love the movie analogy!
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