Look! part 5
Garbage in, garbage out. What you fill yourself with is what will overflow out of you. What you see... is what you be. So what you look at--or set your affection on--is vitally important. If you surround yourself and fill yourself with God-things... you'll be so saturated with it that you won't have room for anything else. Whether that means consistantly reading the Bible, listen to worship music or sermons--and, listen, I'm not being judgmental here or anything like that. I'm simply telling you that what you fill yourself with is what you experience. The more God you purposefully put into your life... the better. Look at 2 Peter 1:5-7, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." Add things to your life that will improve your life. But always with the understand that we can't add anything that hasnt' already been given to us. This life is not about getting something you haven't got--or something you think you haven't got. This life is about experiencing that gift of God that you've already been given. For God so loved the world He gave. He gave us everything we would ever need when He gave us His only begotten Son. He gave us faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, and charity. He gave us faith, hope, and love. He gave us mercy and grace. He gave us everything... because He gave us Himself. So stop looking at yourself as someone who lacks something. Add what has been given to you. Receive it and release it. Look to the Rock from which you where hewn. Look IN the mirror instead of AT the mirror. See the Christ that is IN you. See that light that is inside you, and let that light shine! Because, let's be real, when you add all of those good (GOD) things... you are filling yourself up... to overflowing. Those things inside you WILL come out. They have to. Whatever you believe is inside comes out. It's too big not to. Whenever you try to keep things bottled up inside they just end up exploding anyway. So instead of that, we have to find healthy, productive ways to let what's inside come out. And the best way to do that is to know what's REALLY inside. And the best way to do that is to purposefully fill yourself. Add the good things. Focus on them. Starve the rest. Don't give your three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) to anything that, quite frankly, doesn't matter. Look at any and every situation and, instead of judging it by appearance, judge it righteously. Instead of being angry about it, look at how you could improve it. Don't see yourself as a victim, see yourself as just the right person to inject love (God) into the situation. Stop seeing problems, and start seeing opportunites for solutions. It's all about your mindset. It's all about how you react to whatever it is that happens. It's all about knowing and believing--receiving and releasing--the love of God. So see the way God loves you--I think that's where I'm going with my next Rant series. See the way you are loved, and in that way learn how to love. Look and live. Garbage in, garbage out. Yes. But in the same manner, on the other side of the coin, love in... love out. Breathe it in and breathe it out. Let God love you and love Him back by loving people. See Him as He is and see yourself IN Him as YOU really are. You're a chip off the old block, so look to the Rock from which you were hewn. See HIM... and you will BE HIm, by letting HIm be Himself in you, and through you, and as you!