The "Son-ny" Side

I sit near a window at work and sometimes it can be rather sunny - bright and hot too.
One day I was almost complaining about it and felt the Lord caution me.

I felt Him say I should see and feel it as His presence around me. He reminded me about Malachi 4:2 - But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings... (NLT)

Psalms even has more to say about the benefits of staying "under God's wings"* -
One rather popular verse is Psalm 91:4 which says: He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. (NLT)

When you think about it, plants cannot be grow or be fruitful without the sun...likewise, we cannot grow or be fruitful without the Son** - what a physical reminder of a spiritual reality.

Helen Keller put it differently: “Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.” Psalm 23: 4 - Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.*** Indeed with the Son, the shadows of life pale into insignificance.

So now whenever I see the sun - I enjoy all it means to me...one thing is sure, under His wings, my life is bright - without a shadow of doubt because "For however many promises God has made, they all find their “Yes” in connection with him; that is why it is through him that we say the “Amen” when we give glory to God."****

As we start the last quarter of this year, I encourage you to live on the Son-ny side of life...


References:
* Ps 36: 7-8 - How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They relish and feast on the abundance of Your house; and You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures. (Amplified)
**John 15:4 - Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. (Amplified)
Phil 4:13 - I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. (Amplified)
***Amplified
****2 Corinthians 1:20 - Complete Jewish Bible

Old school

I was just thinking about how some of us are referred to as "old school" - and I don't mind. A smile spread in my mind & on my face when I thought about it - and even as I type this post.

As I thought about it I remembered a common children's anti-bully phrase: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words/names will never hurt me." Now I know that words & even names matter a lot but the point of the phrase as a confidence booster is taken... The whole essence was to help children remain calm and kind even if others weren't. Can you believe that this phrase dates back to 1872* - and it's still relevant 140 years later? Wow!

I'll rein myself in before I go off to talk about building a lasting legacy...which we all should.

Real Life...

I was amused when I stumbled on a TV show titled: "Real Life." It's funny and also encouraging to know that after all these years of "building castles in the air" people have realized that we need to be real and live on earth...

It has been said that if a person lies to themselves long enough, they'd believe it and accept the lie as a truth - what a waste of time and life...living a lie. Worse yet is when the person has "accomplices" whom they think has their best interest at heart - well, to that I'd say "please think again." Lying around (i.e. either being lazy and/or being untrue to & about yourself) will not take you anywhere...except further away from your dreams.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with having lofty dreams and aspirations but the only way to make your dreams come true is to "wake up and work in it." So take one more look at those castles you have built in the air and get up and get to work - that's the real life...

I like the way Joel Barker put it:

"Vision without action is merely a dream.

Action without vision just passes the time.

Vision with action can change the world." 

So real life is all about making a difference in others' lives...big or small, make it real.

Working it out...

It's always so insightful to have a conversation with other Christians. It very quickly becomes a spiritual sharpening session - where we jointly rightly divide the word of God and are always the better for it. It's also so refreshing to spend time sharpening each other.*

Play 'n' Learn...

God, our uncreated Creator is very creative and amazing with where He places Life lessons. If you take time to think deeply there is at least one lesson to be learned from every game.

Are you carefree or careless?

One day when I let my children play where I couldn't see them, I briefly questioned the soundness on that decision i.e. was I being careless  or "care-free" (i.e. free of care)?

Do you speed up or slow down...

...when approaching an amber (yellow) traffic light?

A few weeks ago I noticed that I reacted in 2 different ways as I approached an amber (yellow) traffic light.
At the first one, I noticed as I headed to the middle of the intersection that the light had started turning amber - so I had no choice but to go on. It was the right decision in that split second otherwise I could have caused an accident - the person behind me could have run into me. At the second one, I noticed about 100 metres before the intersection that the traffic light was about to turn amber and there was no wisdom in speeding up - that felt unsafe.

After that experience I just asked myself the very same question - which is our topic. Without a doubt, I agree that timing is everything - indeed the Bible says that:

"The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong,  nor does food come to the wise  or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all." (NIV)

The Bible also says that:

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives. (NLT)

Putting both verses together, I believe God is teaching us to be perceptive of His leading at all the "traffic lights"* of life. We need to know when God says we should speed up and when we need to slow down. You definitely do not want to speed up and find out that God is not there with you nor do you want to slow down under the excuse of waiting for God whereas God has gone ahead and is waiting for you.

 Whatever you do, always follow God's leading. Remember that, as Marsha Evans says: 
"God will order your footsteps….but that will require that your FOOT takes a STEP" ...which could require you to speed up or slow down as He deems best for you - at that traffic light.* 

Reference:
*http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.ca/2010/09/maintain-your-pace.html