When Jesus saved me, He showed to me my emptiness as He then filled it up. How great was that darkness! How large a place was hidden from my consciousness! Now, as I was being scoured clean, my big bad pretention for not needing people or their love, uglified my psyche for a moment. Just as quickly, it was gone and love poured in —tears of joy, strains of uninhibited laughter.
There is an extremely devious yet efficient technique which hides from sight vital processes and real feelings in a man; nevertheless, at the awakening of true love, this dishonest dealer disintegrates. O, the power of unfailing love! —All-encompassing, un-conditional, personal, and intimate; we think of it. Love takes off the band-aids, healing cloths, and tapes; it unclouds the murky water, X-rays the soul, and seeks out the spots to remove them.
The leavened malignancy causes dough to expand as air bubbles fill in vital space and it all develops in the dark damp basement. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. What leaven —of the Pharisees, of the Sadducees, of the Herodians? Of over-demanding-conscience, of over-ideated emotions, of under-accountable volition —leaven mutates what was intended for soundness, leaving distortion.
The sight of an eye, isolated as one, looses depth perception. It can’t measure distance accurately. Scanning the ground as we walk will turn us off the road —same with watching the tops of skyscraping buildings; it makes us dizzy, and running into fellow tourists. Two eyes looking forward solve all of the above.
Proverbs 10:32 tells us:”the lips of the righteous know what is acceptable.” How do they know this information? How does a soul know that it operates correctly? Self observation cannot reveal this needed info, but a mirror of looking away can help. A reflection, a gauge outside, an external filter measures the soul’s exactness. A righteous man has it; the sense of right action and also right being. “The lips of the righteous feed many; the desire of the righteous is granted. The integrity of the upright shall guide him; the righteousness of the perfect shall direct his steps.” Righteousness exalts a nation; blessings are on the head of such.
See, they looked unto Him and were lightened. They beheld as in a glass the glory of the Lord and were changed into the selfsame image! There is no other way to the peace of “I’m in the right way, and the Lord will lead me.” Folks, we can really say, “hey I’m in my right mind.” “I know what I am doing.” All of this is possible because, “The way of a man is not in himself.” (Jeremiah 23:10).
False humility is a cover-up, false burdens get carried in its wake; over-burdened souls mutate; resultant inflammation results in wounding; and then death. True humility thinks not too highly of itself; thinks not too lowly either; but thinks not of itself at all.
Your brand new, big, beautiful, yellow town car is a sight to behold. Now forget all of that, it’s time to drive it safely to a destination desired. Big, beautiful, and yellow crashes and creases as easily as small, pink or green. Lets focus on the forward movement. A student studies engineering and trains several years. Now he has a job. The company does not pay him to come and study, read and learn, but to build a project. Training is over; life as an engineer begins.
Lets regroup. Do we dare take our eyes off the big beautiful “me” and begin to feel the freedom? Do we dare to look away from the big-ugly “me” and say, “who cares, I am accepted by God?” Can we entrust our stuff to God for long enough to relax and let faith begin to usher in a life? When we do, order reestablishes, harmony restores, balance recovers, and soul heals.
Snakes had infested the camp of Isreal on their journey; many of God’s people suffered and some died. Moses made a serpent of brass and placed it on a pole. The instruction came, “look at the serpent on the pole and be healed.” What? To take the eyes off of festering wounds, and dying family was a lot to ask. Those who looked were healed, nevertheless.
We “fig leaf” our junk by excessive occupation with it, we perpetuate its existence through careful study. We insure the disharmony of our soul by trying to harmonize it, and we contribute to worsening the issue with a refusal to let it go. Instead, how about lets get the h out of there and begin to live. Paul said “I would have you without carefulness.” 1 Corinthians 7:32.
Finally, “Compare not yourselves among yourselves, measure not yourselves by yourself” “The kingdom of God comes without observation.” Don’t look at George, or Kathy or Mel; look at Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Yes, comparing can happen, but leads to falsehood, which leads to burdens, which lead to inflammation, etc. etc. Don’t do it please. love ya
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