Open for Examination? - #write31days 10-29-16

It's so easy to use up most of our time running around doing good -- and feeling good about it. But, perhaps God wants to point out something in us that needs to be changed... made new... refined. Our hearts need to be open for examination on a daily basis -- not just when we run out of good things to do on our own. 

And face the fact, it's hard to let Him set the agenda for us when we feel that He's equipped us so well that we should plan & do things all on our own.

Many believers are familiar with this scripture:

"Search me Oh God & know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts; and if there be any wicked way in me, lead me to the way everlasting."  Psalm 139:23 & 24

I wonder how many times I've prayed that scripture but, didn't really want God to point out anything that I needed to change?

I don't believe that the relationship with Christ is a scorecard - where the relationship is right on track if the checks in the "Good" column exceed the checks in the "Bad" column. I believe we can be sailing along, convinced that we are right on target, because we aren't really doing anything "bad". But, what about ASKING God to point out areas He wants to change? What about allowing Him to examine our innermost heart & begin the changes that need to happen for His perfect will to be accomplished. I think there are so many good things to be done in our world. But, there's a time and a place and a person for each of those things.

My personal challenge is to open my heart to God daily & allow Him to examine and search me. I want to listen to Him & apply what I hear. I encourage you to take a moment to open your heart to Him daily - allowing Him to search you & to point out ways that you can be more of what He created you to be. 

5 Minute Free-For-All - Are You Open for Examination? - #write31days 10-29-16

Who Takes Care of Whom?

Linking with the Tuesday at Ten group today... the prompt word... CARE

Do you have an intense "need" to feel as though you're caring well for others? In my early to mid-twenties, I poured myself into others with everything I could. I gave to others & cared for others so much that I began to feel I was running out of anything to give. A fellow co-worker and mentor who was in her early 40's (whom at the time I thought was really old) gave me some advice. 

She told me that I would never be able to

HOPE, Mirror, Mirror On the Wall 10-11-13

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

Do you remember those words from the Disney movie, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs :) When I was a little girl, I loved that movie & remember saying that to myself in a mirror. Gazing in the mirror there was a thin face peering back. And yet, I beheld the lovely face of a soon-to-be Princess on her way to a life of luxury in the "castle" of her dreams... Biltmore Estate :) Yes, that was my happily ever after dream destination. 

Ahhh... childhood fantasies & memories, how they occupied my days!

And, as I say pretty often... and then life happened. The image I saw at a very early age was one of hope & beauty. But, over the years, the image that peered back at me often showed a person of insecurities - not a pretty face. It showed someone who wasn't quite enough. It showed a person who was no longer wanted in a relationship. It showed a person who hadn't been chosen for a part in a play or in a circle of friends. It showed someone who felt like a once-cherished-friend had moved on to bigger & better friends.

Recently when visiting a BFF girlfriend, I awoke from a very restful night of sleep. I stretched & gave out a LOUD groan of joy. Suddenly, I caught an image in the mirror across the room which took my breath away. I immediately began laughing loudly & grabbed my cell to captured a picture. The thought came to me... I'm made in the image of God. God is hilarious!

I'm thankful that I can see God in the hilarious... in the image of myself in the mirror... in the hope for today & tomorrow. 

Q: Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who's the fairest of them all?
A: The One I want to reflect the rest of the days of my life. That's who!

His promises...

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12

Wow... God sees me as beautiful... because God sees me for what I can be & will be through Him :)

Linking October 2013 with The Nesting Place

 for the 31-day Challenge

Related Posts:

Dream On...

When Dreams Die 

When Your Story is Not Your Own

Crazy Undone Dreams  

Do You Like Your Life Ruthann? 

Crazy Reflections! - 31 DAYS OF CRAZY - 30 October 2012

Love this image from Snow White

Mirror Mirror... on the wall...

Has your mind ever spoken the words,  "Who IS that person?"  as you noticed the familiarity in the mirror -- yet the strangeness of a reflection... a reflection of yourself. The other day I caught an alarming glance at a person in the reflection of a window as I entered my home. Who was that person? She looks vaguely familiar but, not at all appealing to my eye.

I don't have a huge problem with the reflection of myself in a mirror when made-up & ready to go somewhere. But, who the heck is that unattractive lady in the reflection of my iPad early in the morning or the glass of the china cabinet in the late evening? I don't think I know her. Is that reflection what others see? It's said that "beauty is only skin deep" and also that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".  But, how do we reconcile the toll that life takes upon what we actually look like?  I'm hoping most of my friends have kind eyes!

I have a close friend (my accountability partner of over 15 years) who lost 100 pounds over the course of 12-14 months. I never noticed it! Why? I saw her almost twice a week for those months. But, more than anything, I saw the person inside the shell of the body.  What we see on the outside is temporal. What we see on the inside is eternal.

I want to be a reflection of more than my face. I want to reflect joy, peace, patience, kindness, hope, and forgiveness. Those reflections do not age. They last forever.  

What are you reflecting? 

His Words: 

(got this idea from Chase Tibbs' blog; using it because i love the words of God)

• "So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
• "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12
• "So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into His glorious image." 2 Cor 3:18
• "But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him." Colossians 3:8-10

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