Welcome to my randomized study & miscellaneous thoughts about the Awesome God of the universe, who He is and what He wants us to be.

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Verse of the Day

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19/NIV
Verseoftheday.com

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Today's Quote “No Christian can be a pessimist, for Christianity is a system of radical optimism.” —William R. Inge Quotemeal | Subscribe by Email | Heartlight®

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Distorted

Have you ever played one of those puzzle games where the picture starts out distorted or jumbled and as it becomes clearer you try and guess what it’s supposed to be? The fun part of the game is to see who can be the first to guess the picture correctly. These are funny because the guesses can be so wildly wrong! And the picture is, at first, just a blur. Friends shouting out answers or guesses. “What is that? What is it?!!!”

Do you ever see yourself this way? Are you ever a jumbled up, distorted picture to the world around you or to yourself? Do you find yourself guessing as to who you are? And then changing your answer minutes, hours or days later when the picture becomes clearer?

My mental picture is of the colored sand inside the glass frame that you can purchase at some gift stores or at the mall. Every time you turn it over, it forms a different design. Sometimes it looks like a sunset. Other times it an ocean with waves breaking upon the shoreline. Still other times it resembles the terrain of a distant planet. We let out an audible “ohhh” and “ahhh” at the designs. But we know that they are meaningless. A mere decorative plaything. Our lives are not like that. And if our perception of who we are changes with every twist and turn and tumble that we face in this life, the “ohhh” and “ahhh” may turn out to be an “ouch” or even worse.

Do you recall the song, “What I Am” from 1988 sung by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians? A one-hit wonder who’s other major move was marrying Paul Simon. This was a catchy little tune, but the words actually offer a glimpse of someone who doesn’t know What I Am. Read on….

“What I Am”
Edie Brickell And The New Bohemians

I'm not aware of too many things
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Philosophy is a talk on cereal box religion
Is a smile on a dog

I'm not aware of too many things
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep
What I am is what I am are you what you are or what?

I'm not aware of too many things I know what I know if you know what I mean
Philosophy is a walk on slippery rocks religion
is a light in the fog

I'm not aware of too many things I know what I know if you know what I mean
Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep
What I am is what I am are you what you are or what

Okay, who am I? Who are you? As I wrote last time, our identities can be solidly grounded or ever changing depending upon what we ground them upon. Where do our foundational beliefs about ourselves come from? Is a professional athlete still the same person when he or she retires from the sport? Is the lotto winner the same after winning the big jackpot? And am I the same person after a day in which I lost my temper and spoke rudely to my co-worker or family?

I would tend to view myself based upon my actions from the previous hours or days and would get a distorted view of the picture of who I truly am. But how can I get an undistorted view? Who knows me better than I know myself?

In Psalm 139, King David wrote a song of praise to God the Creator of the universe, of life and of David himself. Read through this psalm. Thoughtfully examine what it says about who God is, what He has done, what He knows and where He abounds.

Psalm 139:1-24 (New Living Translation)
O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know! I can never escape from your spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-- but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me!

O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! They blaspheme you; your enemies take your name in vain. O LORD, shouldn't I hate those who hate you? Shouldn't I despise those who resist you? Yes, I hate them with complete hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

David had surrendered himself to God, God’s plan and God’s view of who David was. It was God who said that David was to be king even while the picture of David showed him to be a lowly shepherd boy.

David sang, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!”

Wow! How precious are God’s thoughts about me. This God who never changes created me. He knows me in the innermost parts. He knows my thoughts, dreams, desires, weakness and strength. And I respond to Him by doing what? Do I sing to Him as David did acknowledging Him as knowing the true picture of who I am?

Do I know who God is so that I can then know who I am? Do I tremble in awe and respect like Isaiah who encountered God and said “1 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Hovering around him were mighty seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew. 3 In a great chorus they sang, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his glory!" 4 The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, "My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD Almighty!" (Isaiah 6:1-5)

Remember the lyrics from “Who Are You” by The Who from the last post? I don’t know if they believed in Jesus, but they sure did seem to write about Him when they sang,

I know there's a place you walked
Where love falls from the trees
My heart is like a broken cup
I only feel right on my knees

Oh God, use me, a mere broken vessel. Shape me as You desire. Teach me Your ways and Your thoughts and let me rest in Your Truth. Allow me to see the true picture of who I am and please gently shape me into who You want me to be.

seeking Him,
dr. larry
scribbled with crayon by dr. larry at 10:38 AM