Just a Glimpse....
I heard a phrase a few years ago that has really stuck with me.  It says that "we need to have eternal eyes", basically it means that we should live our lives with a view of heaven in mind.  The trouble is that we tend to get "earthbound" in our thinking.  So much all around us can be distracting, even some things that are really good things.  God has given us so much in this life for our enjoyment, but it must be kept in balance with the reality that as a Christian, this world is not our home.  It would be so much easier to keep our focus if we could get....

Just a Glimpse

Just a glimpse of Glory Lord

I’m longing now to see

More and more I find myself

Homesick to be free

From the bondage of this world

And the struggles all around

For I am not at home here

My soul yearns for higher ground

I’m a citizen of a Heaven

And I surely realize

That this life is just a journey

Always looking for the prize

But so many things seduce us here

Lord help me to release

All the things that hold me here

That I may know real peace

Because at times I feel too much at home

In this place that’s not my home

When I’m really just a pilgrim here

And my journey is not done

So just a glimpse of Glory Lord

Will help me on my way

May my affections be on things above

Until that glorious day

When the curtain will be lifted

And not a glimpse but fully shown

We’ll be at home in Glory then

And know as we are known

Col 3:1-2 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

I have often said, and I firmly believe, that if we could ever once get a clear view of the eternal, it would totally transform our thoughts and our actions.  I wonder why God doesn’t give us that ability.  But then where would be the faith in that?  

Freedom...
With Veterans Day just past, this poem came to mind.  Freedom is probably one of my favorite words in the English language because it carries such depth of meaning.  My heart felt gratitude is stirred every time I see one of our countries finest in uniform.  I always try to make it a point to let them know that I appreciate their service.  But real freedom goes so much deeper than that.  Real freedom is something that only Christ can make available to us.  Unfortunately there are so many Christians that never learn to experience this freedom to its fullest, because of the choices they make.  I can't imagine anything more precious or valuable.  More than my gratitude for our service men and women, I am so grateful for my freedom from the penalty of sin.  I am grateful that I can have the freedom from the power of sin, as I yield daily to the Holy Spirit.  And I am most grateful that one day I will have freedom from the very presence of sin!  I can't think of anything we are more in need of than real, true, lasting....

Freedom

If I be lifted up

I will draw all men to me

Jesus speaking of his death

The truth that sets us free

Real freedom is in Christ

Free to love and to serve

Free to be different

If you’ve got the nerve

Free to escape

The bondage of sin

Free to have victory

Over the old man within

Free to avoid

The scars and the shame

Freedom to call

On the power in His name

“Give me freedom or give me death”

One man once bravely said

We make the choice between the two

By the path we choose to tread

John 12:32  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

I Cor. 6:12  All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

When I was young, I wanted “freedom” more than I wanted just about any other thing.  Freedom to “do my own thing”, to make my own rules.  I thought, as I’m sure many do (especially in the teenage years), that having that sort of freedom was the key to happiness.  But the older I get and the more I grow in grace, the more I understand that real freedom, that produces genuine happiness and joy, is in yielding “my own thing” in order to do “His thing”.  There is a freedom in the will of God that cannot be understood or experienced any other way.

The Battle ...
The book of Proverbs is probably my favorite in the OT because of it's variety of practical advise, and because it is so rich with nuggets of wisdom.  One of the passages that stands out to me most, and that I often reflect on is in the 23rd chapter and verse 7 where it says that... "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he"..... Interesting that it doesn't say "as he thinks in his mind".  Although every thought begins in the mind, it is the thoughts that we allow to sink into our hearts that determine the type of person that we become.  The good news is that we get to choose those thoughts.  Parents will often tell their children, "you can be anything you set your mind to"!  And that is so true, but that isn't just for children.  If you don't like where you are in life, change your mind...you will be amazed at what can happen when the right thoughts (infused with the truth of the Word) work their way into your heart!  The devil knows this is true and tries to use it against us.  That is why God has given us all of the equipment we need to face...

The Battle

There is a battle raging

A war for all of time

So fierce the attack of the enemy

It’s the battle for the mind

Deception and delusion

Are the weapons of his choice

And a dulling of our hearing

So that we don’t hear the voice

Of the One who is Commander

The Captain of the Host

The only One who knows what’s best

The One who loves us most

The opposition questions

Has God really said

Or is that really the interpretation

When in the Book we’ve read

He lays the traps to snare us

To destroy us if he can

And he makes no real distinction

Whether woman child or man

But the thing that still amazes

Is our foolishness and pride

For we often go into battle

With our armour laid aside

And wonder why we falter

When temptation comes along

Though we’ve been given everything we need

To stand firm resolved and strong

So take note my friend and understand

This battle won’t be done

Until one day we stand in Heaven

And the final victory is won

Eph. 6:11-17   Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Here in these 6 verses the Apostle Paul gives us a way to connect the principle of Proverbs 23:7 to the practical of everyday living.  This is an amazing passage to me, not just because of the truth it conveys, but the fact that we as believers so often do not take full advantage of it.  Our Captain has provided for us every protection and weapon that we need to be victorious overcomers in the spiritual warfare that we face every day.  Yet, all too often I find myself going into my day without one or all of these firmly applied.  What about you?

Cowboy Kind of Man...
This poem still makes me smile every time I re-visit it.  It is one that is a little more fun than it is deep, but there is some real meaning if you look and listen closely.  All of us had dreams of what and who we wanted to be when we were kids.  Unfortunately, too often we forget how to dream as we get older.  Maybe our childhood dreams were totally unrealistic, but that energy and imagination is the stuff that can push us to doing great things for the Lord and for those we love.  For me, I just wanted to be a .....

Cowboy Kind of Man 

I dreamed of bein' a cowboy 
When I was just a child
But I grew up where the concrete grows
And not the west when it was wild
John Wayne and Gary Cooper
And Jimmy Stewert these
Were the kinds of men I hoped someday
that I'd grow up to be
men of courage and of honor
and a style that was all there own
Men not afraid to stand for right
even when they stood alone
But I'm all grown now and I wear wingtips
Instead of cowboy boots
And I carry around a ball point pen
Instead of a gun that shoots
But I think cowboy is an attitude
A way of lookin' at things
A certain way of dealin' with
Whatever this life brings
So maybe I don't ride a horse
Or rope or throw or brand
But it's deep inside not the work you do
That makes a cowboy kind of  a man

 I Cor. 13:11  "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

It’s one thing to “put away childish things”, it is quite another to let your dreams of childhood die entirely.  I believe we need those childhood dreams to keep us young at heart and keep us striving to be the very best we can be.  Do you dream of doing great things? Do you dream of making a difference? Be a person that honors God.... and never stop dreaming!