"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath
Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose,
I shall love thee better after death."
-Poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1845 - 1847
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Something in Your Teeth?
So you are eating at a restaurant with friends, or with a date, and you are having such a great time. You get home after a fun night, and go to the bathroom to brush your teeth, and low and behold, part of your dinner has been waiting for you between your two front teeth for WHO KNOWS how long?!
I'm sure I would get it out ASAP and wonder "how long has THAT been there?"
In James 1:22-25, the Bible is compared to a mirror that is used to reveal parts of our lives that might need to be cleaned out, or improved, for the glory of Jesus Christ. But how often do we see the flaws - whether it's selfishness, dishonesty, pride, etc., and then back away from the mirror and decide it's not worth fixing "right now". Instead of reacting with embarrassment or an eagerness to rid myself of these habits, I tell myself they really aren't THAT big a deal, and so many others do WAY worse things than I do.
But in God's eyes, the "little flaw" is a BIG BLACK SPECK that is wedged in my soul and needs to be brushed out! And I have noticed that Christ will use things and people and situations to continue bringing that "speck" to my attention. In order to honor my Creator and Savior, I must floss that old junk right out of my life and allow God's Word to transform me and make me a person who reflects the Love and Truth of God to the people around me.
James 1:22-25 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does."
P.S. I have to give credit to my dear friend, Jamie White, for the above analogy.
I'm sure I would get it out ASAP and wonder "how long has THAT been there?"
In James 1:22-25, the Bible is compared to a mirror that is used to reveal parts of our lives that might need to be cleaned out, or improved, for the glory of Jesus Christ. But how often do we see the flaws - whether it's selfishness, dishonesty, pride, etc., and then back away from the mirror and decide it's not worth fixing "right now". Instead of reacting with embarrassment or an eagerness to rid myself of these habits, I tell myself they really aren't THAT big a deal, and so many others do WAY worse things than I do.
But in God's eyes, the "little flaw" is a BIG BLACK SPECK that is wedged in my soul and needs to be brushed out! And I have noticed that Christ will use things and people and situations to continue bringing that "speck" to my attention. In order to honor my Creator and Savior, I must floss that old junk right out of my life and allow God's Word to transform me and make me a person who reflects the Love and Truth of God to the people around me.
James 1:22-25 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does."
P.S. I have to give credit to my dear friend, Jamie White, for the above analogy.
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