Perspective is Important | Be Wary of the Way that SEEMS Right

Have you heard the metaphor about boiling the frog? The premise is this: If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it immediately jumps out to safety. If you put a frog in a pot of cold water, however, & slowly increase the heat, it becomes sluggish, unaware of the potential danger, & eventually allows itself to be cooked unto death. 😳

I kinda think it’s “frog wash” because who could keep a frog in a pot that long😂, but it IS a great metaphor about perspective.

Proverbs 14:12 warns us that there’s a way before each person that SEEMS right, but it ends in death. 😬

If we only operate on personal perspective, making decisions based on what SEEMS good, we just might find ourselves in a situation that eventually boils us to death-emotionally, relationally, financially & physically! When we make compromised decisions, much like the frog,, we unknowingly place ourselves in a confined pot where we are unaware of slowly developing problems. We may not recognize them until it’s too late!

My 3 older sons are currently in Los Angeles-a city that falls short of its namesake😢. As a mama, it feels like a pot of water that could capture my sons’ gaze, distracting them from all that God intended on the day He knit them together in my womb. It is also fertile ground for them to carry The Living Hope with them wherever they go!

One of my constant prayers is that they wouldn’t be lulled to cultural complacency, forgetting Whose they are, the resurrection power they carry & the holy responsibility to wield it for Kingdom purposes.

Perspective is important. Improper perspective can make us impotent. Proper perspective begins with humility to know we don’t know it all-& never will this side of heaven!

Unless we allow ourselves to be washed in the Word of God & surrounded by wise people who we let ask hard questions, we risk making decisions that SEEM right.

Father, we lay the myriad of decisions we face before You & are willing to revisit one’s we’ve made that maybe placed us in a hot pot! Holy Spirit, we desperately need your discernment! Give us proper perspective to make decisions that ARE right & position us to make Kingdom impact that will ripple to the nations!

#OneYearBible

April 29th One Year Bible Readings

JUDGES 9:22-10:18

LUKE 24:13-53

PSALM 100:1-5

PROVERBS 14:11-12

You Can’t UNbecome a Butterfly, so Stop Crawling like a Caterpillar!

There once was a butterfly who crawled like she was still a caterpillar. Caterpillar life was confined to a small space & that was just fine with her. Life was a slow & methodical 16 steps at a time.

Now that she was a butterfly, she had 14 fewer feet but could travel a far greater distance with her extravagant wings. They were beautiful to gaze upon, but she didn’t like the attention.

One day as she crawled along the ground like her old caterpillar self, a fellow butterfly hovered above & asked what she was doing.

She said she didn’t like being a butterfly, that her old life felt more like home.

The hovering butterfly replied with disbelief, “Are you kidding me? Do you not realize the great responsibility you now have? The flowers need you!

You may only have two feet, but they’ll no longer carry you. Your wings carry you while you carry seed. The pollen you pick up at one flower helps another produce fruit & prosper! Girl, you’re missing out! Butterfly life is the best life! You can’t UNbecome a butterfly, so stop crawling like a caterpillar! We’ve got work to do!”

Y’all,, God created that little story in the recesses of my thoughts as I read about Simon of Cyrene this morning. He was plucked from a crowd of onlookers & forced to carry Jesus’s cross on the way to Golgotha.

Simon didn’t choose to carry the cross, but Jesus foretold our calling when He said, “Pick up your cross & follow Me.” What a visual of the weight that comes with following The One who saved us…

We all have beautiful wings of sorts…some Divine gift that has the ability to carry us far. The purpose of the wings are not simply to “travel abroad”, however, but to pollinate the people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Life before Jesus was familiar & comfortable. It didn’t require much of us. But now that we've got these “wings”, much is required!

What are the gifts God has given you? Things that stun the onlookers in your life because they come with such ease? Maybe you’re a gifted speaker? You’re like a pied piper with children? You love numbers? Maybe order comes easy or tech is like a 2nd language? You help people make connections? Maybe it’s even your physical appearance?

We ALL have facets of our Father given for the sole purpose of His glory! We may long for the former days when much wasn’t required, but the Lord has need of EACH of us!

We cannot UNbecome a butterfly, so are we willing to quit crawling like a caterpillar?

#OneYearBible

April 27th One Year Bible Readings

JUDGES 7:1-8:17

LUKE 23:13-43

PSALM 97:1-98:9

PROVERBS 14:7-8

Feelings are Fleeting | The Father is Not

Feelings are fleeting. The Father is not. Fear is an invitation to flee from the Father, but He draws near calling things that are not, as though they were.

That’s the Truth that surfaced as I read about Gideon, the mighty hero who conquers Midianite bullies-but he wasn’t always courageous.

Judges 6, finds Gideon hiding in a small sunken vat in the ground trying to thresh some wheat so his enemies wouldn’t steal it. I wonder if he feels a little ridiculous when the angel of the Lord suddenly appears, calling him, “Mighty hero”?

If I were Gideon, I’m not sure I would’ve listened to the rest of his sentence because my thoughts would’ve been filled with replies like, “Riiiight, this “valiant warrior” is hiding in a hole trying to get some wheat to eat.”

But the angel calls Gideon as he IS, not as he FEELS. God calls Gideon valiant, and then MAKES him so. 

Gideon cowers in fear, understandably so, because his people are in a severe drought for their refusal to listen.

So valiant Gideon is hiding in a hole, when the angel appears, emphatically assuring him, “the Lord is with you!”

It probably doesn’t FEEL like the Lord is with him. He certainly doesn’t FEEL mighty as he hides from his enemies, but the Lord sees fit to appear to Gideon & call things that are not, as though they were.

He calls on this mighty hero to be just that…the rescuer of Israel. What I love about this story is Gideon’s tentative following because it reminds me of God’s patience with us.

We might not feel courageous, we might need to ask lots of questions & we might take tiny steps of obedience so our feelings have a chance to follow our spirit - & that’s ok! This man who feels under equipped for his calling, slowly begins to refuse fear’s invitation to flee.

Unholy fear is replaced with reverent fear that reminds him of Whom he serves!The Lord of Peace! As Gideon begins to trust God, fear fades, allowing the courage & fortitude of a valiant hero to rise!

Y’all, fear is an invitation to flee the Father’s Presence. Don’t accept it. Draw near to Him, letting Him remind you of who you are & Whose you are. God will call you by name & then equip you to become far more than what you feel!

#OneYearBible

April 26th One Year Bible Readings

JUDGES 6:1-40

LUKE 22:54-23:12

PSALM 95:1-96:13

PROVERBS 14:5-6