Enjoy the Journey

My last post, Total Totality, told how mankind is God’s glory.  I started out with Romans 3:24 “Jesus Christ is proof of God’s grace gift; he redeemed the glory of God in human life…” This morning I was with a group talking over the James 1 and John 1. I really enjoy hashing out scripture with others. I hear others and what they are thinking and working through. I am reminded of the story of the 12 blind guys describing an elephant feom their vantage point.  It takes multiple views to get a full picture not necessarily a perfect picture but a better picture than one going at it alone.

James 1:22-25 Mirror Word

22 Give the word your undivided attention; do not underestimate yourself. Make the calculation. There can only be one logical conclusion: your authentic origin is mirrored in the word. You are God’s poem; let his voice make poetry of your life! (The word, akroate, means intent listening. James is not promoting the doing of the law of works; he is defining the law of perfect liberty. Doing the word begins with your undivided attention to the face of your birth. A doer of the Word, poetes, means poet. Make the calculation, paralogizomai, from para, a preposition indicating close proximity, union, and logizomai, to reckon the logic in any calculation.)

I really like the language “do not underestimate yourself. ” and “there can only be one conclusion: your authentic origin is mirrored in the word.  You are God’s poem; let his voice make poetry of your life! ” Of your life!  I was talking with a friend who was down on himself after 10+ years of making music and being involved in ministry he was feeling burnt out and looking to gey a vocation. We talked and I realized that he was compartmentalizing his life. I have been seeing things differently than I  used to. In evangelical and charismatic teachings  it was always taught to me:

  1. God
  2. Family
  3. Ministry
  4. Job and whatever else

But….

We are His glory, our lives are an expression of His glory.  I don’t just do this when I am creating or singing or ministering!  That’s me all the time, His Glory!  In my ups and in ny downs,  in my success and failure,  I am His glory.  I am, mankind is, His poetry. We are his artwork!  Our lives are the paint on an eternal canvas. There is beauty in us beyond our comprehension.  Take the Mona Lisa vas an example.  If you were to look at it without knowing the painter who made it it would just be old paint on an old canvas. It’s the artists touch and renown that gives it its value.  The artist/creator defines it.

Mankind is defined by its creator. Your creator is God of the universe. His act of creation defined you! You are his masterpiece.  You are his poem.

23 The difference between a mere spectator and a participator is that both of them hear the same voice and perceive in its message the face of their own genesis reflected as in a mirror;

When you understand who you are, when your identity is revealed, the revelation changes your perception of everything. You are God’s poem. You are a direct result of His creation (pre-dirt).  2nd  Corinthians 5:17 < <In the light of your co-inclusion in his death and resurrection, whoever you thought you were before, in Christ you are a brand new person! The old ways of seeing yourself and everyone else are over. Acquaint yourself with the new!
(Just imagine this! Remember we are not talking law language here! The ‘If’ in, “If any man is in Christ” is not a condition, it is the conclusion of the revelation of the gospel! Man is in Christ by God’s doing [1 Cor 1:30 and Eph 1:4]. The verses of 2 Corinthians 5:14-16 give context to verse 17! >> In Him you are a new person a new masterpiece!  There is nothing left from the delusions and lies of your past you!

24 they realize that they are looking at themselves, but for the one it seems just too good to be true, he departs (back to his old way of seeing himself)

It is not to good to be true! You can never over exaggerate or underestimate God.  You are His masterpiece!  Don’t forget that!

25 The other one is mesmerized by what he sees; he is captivated by the effect of a law that frees man from the obligation to the old written code that restricted him to his own efforts and willpower. No distraction or contradiction can dim the impact of what he sees in that mirror concerning the law of perfect liberty (the law of faith) that now frees him to get on with the act of living the life (of his original design.) He finds a new spontaneous lifestyle; the poetry of practical living. (The law of perfect liberty is the image and likeness of God revealed in Christ, now redeemed in man as in a mirror. Look deep enough into that law of faith that you may see there in its perfection a portrait that so resembles the original that he becomes distinctly visible in the spirit of your mind and in the face of every man you behold. I translated the word, parakupto, with mesmerized from para, a preposition indicating close proximity, originating from, denoting the point from which an action originates, intimate connection, and kupto, to bend, stoop down to view at close scrutiny; parameno, to remain captivated under the influence of; meno, to continue to be present. The word often translated as freedom, eleutheria, means without obligation; spontaneous.)

I’m going to repeat myself,  It is not to good to be true! You can never over exaggerate or underestimate God.  You are His masterpiece!  Don’t forget that!

So you are His masterpiece. Every part of your life is included. Your eating, sleeping, ministry,  worshipping,  family time,  working, are all part of you being His glory.  Being found In Him defines you. Being In Him completes you and fulfills you. The walking out of your daily life is a journey into being His glory. There is no price you have to pay to enter. There is no conditions to meet. He has done it, paid the price of admission fully. Live your life in that reality.!

Life is a journey, go live it!