My wife—who I must say has very keen insight and wisdom—was explaining to me the other evening about people’s perspectives on God. She said until we really get down into the gut level of our relationship with God we view it as we do all other relationships. From academics, to sports, to dating, to jobs, to marriage…we are conditioned to “measure up” and meet other people’s expectations.
This is how we usually approach God as well. We feel like we must measure up: pray enough, fast enough, confess enough. What we often forget is God paid the ultimate price of suffering, dying, and rising from the dead because He knew we can’t measure up. He’s not expecting us to measure up. He’s expecting us to be real with ourselves so we can enjoy the true relationship we were meant to have with Him. All that other stuff: praying, fasting, confessing…that all comes with spiritual maturity and is a journey that continues our entire earthly lives. It does not happen because we condemn ourselves every time we screw things up.
It’s a tough mindset to overcome and I struggle with it all the time. I go through mind games of thinking “I have so blown it…I don’t even feel like praying. I’m embarrassed, ashamed and He’s probably not going to listen anyway because He’s so disappointed in me.” Listen up! This is a devil’s foothold that he loves to exploit. Human nature is flawed and satan will use that fact with wild exuberance any time he can. Any time we feel unworthy…bam! The devil has us right where he wants us.
Feeling unworthy in God’s presence is an unfortunate result of our “not measuring up” mentality. It’s at especially those times we need to reach out to our loving Father and tell him how we’re feeling. If you want to yell…yell. If you want to cry…cry. Just don’t wimp out and be taken in by feelings of unworthiness. God already know what you’re going through; He just wants you to come to Him and express it. We are His creation and—just like any good artist—wants to be intimate with what He’s made.
Pheewww…you got me on a roll here. Bottom line is, don’t try to measure up to God’s perfection…you won’t. Our humanness simply won’t let us. The wonderful truth, however, is that God’s love for you—and your love for Him—will transcend all that “measuring up” stuff and you’ll find that the more you approach God in complete honesty, the more you’ll realize that you’ve already measured up in His eyes. This world may suck and be a harsh critic, but by God’s grace we are perfect creations of our Heavenly Father and we can take this truth through eternity.
Blessings!
Greg Morton
© October 19, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Tailor Made
Dedicated in loving memory to Jim Ovies - 10/09/1960-10/03/2009
Recently my wife and I lost a good friend. His 49 years was too short—certainly by our standards—and we are extremely saddened by the loss. My father-in-law, Bruno, called soon after he heard the news and told me, “You know, Greg, life is like a fine silk thread…so fragile.” I found great wisdom in that simple truth.
The death of someone—especially someone close—brings the reality of mortality to new heights. It sharpens our senses that the time we have on this earth is much more precious than we often give it credit for.
I’d like to go back to the statement for a moment that Bruno made to me: “Life is like a fine silk thread…so fragile.” How appropriate that he used an analogy in this way. God, our Creator, has truly made us out of human fabric and sewn together with the finest of thread…His love. God’s thread, however, is not fragile or weak; quite the contrary. David expresses it in Psalm 139:13, 14 like this:
For you created my inmost being;
… you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
… your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (NIV)
God has created us just as a fine tailor takes careful, loving delight in constructing the perfect piece of work. Unfortunately we often wear our best fitting clothes in places they ought not to go and they become soiled; frayed; sometimes ruined. Although God’s love—His thread—is stronger than anything we can imagine, we often live our lives testing that strength.
Life, on the other hand, is fragile and fleeting. I don’t understand the totality of creation, and certainly can’t see the bigger picture as God sees it. I do know that the time we spend as mortals here on earth is but a mere moment in time whether it be 20, 50 or even 100 years. Life is like a fine silk thread and it should make us appreciate our lives all the more.
Greg Morton
© October 9, 2009
Recently my wife and I lost a good friend. His 49 years was too short—certainly by our standards—and we are extremely saddened by the loss. My father-in-law, Bruno, called soon after he heard the news and told me, “You know, Greg, life is like a fine silk thread…so fragile.” I found great wisdom in that simple truth.
The death of someone—especially someone close—brings the reality of mortality to new heights. It sharpens our senses that the time we have on this earth is much more precious than we often give it credit for.
I’d like to go back to the statement for a moment that Bruno made to me: “Life is like a fine silk thread…so fragile.” How appropriate that he used an analogy in this way. God, our Creator, has truly made us out of human fabric and sewn together with the finest of thread…His love. God’s thread, however, is not fragile or weak; quite the contrary. David expresses it in Psalm 139:13, 14 like this:
For you created my inmost being;
… you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
… your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (NIV)
God has created us just as a fine tailor takes careful, loving delight in constructing the perfect piece of work. Unfortunately we often wear our best fitting clothes in places they ought not to go and they become soiled; frayed; sometimes ruined. Although God’s love—His thread—is stronger than anything we can imagine, we often live our lives testing that strength.
Life, on the other hand, is fragile and fleeting. I don’t understand the totality of creation, and certainly can’t see the bigger picture as God sees it. I do know that the time we spend as mortals here on earth is but a mere moment in time whether it be 20, 50 or even 100 years. Life is like a fine silk thread and it should make us appreciate our lives all the more.
Greg Morton
© October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Today is the Day
Perhaps two of the devil’s favorite words to pound into us are: “yesterday” and “tomorrow”. Why?… “Yesterday” can keep us pining or regretting what we’ve done in the past; “Tomorrow” can keep us wanting what we don’t yet have or putting things off to the future. Anything to distract us from David’s wisdom: “This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24) will be fine with the devil.
Certainly there is nothing inherently wrong with either of these words or their applications. Reflecting on our past can be comforting at times; and learning from our past mistakes is without a doubt essential. And, of course, looking forward and setting goals for ourselves and our family is just as important. Like I said….the words aren’t inherently bad, but we should still be mindful that the devil loves to intervene in subtle ways. Using “yesterday” and “tomorrow” can be footholds if we aren’t attentive to where these thought processes take us.
I’ve written numerous times about the devil and on evil in general, but it never ceases to amaze me how God keeps me on my game about the gravity and seriousness of the devil’s role in my spiritual well being. The devil isn’t just an obstacle in life; his manipulations are more than just tests to either pass or fail; his affect on all of us—Christian or unsaved—is real and bears our full attention. Don’t get me wrong… I don’t believe we should give him undue attention. I’ve fallen into the trap of directing my focus more on him and his wily ways than on the blessings I’m receiving from God. Now that’s just plain wrong.
I wrote in my lyrics to “Welcome to the Real World”:
Welcome to the real world
, Where satan has the reign
A kingdom full of darkness
, His playground for our pain
If you haven’t heard the song, it really isn’t as dark as this chorus might imply; but it does reflect a reality that he’s been given dominion over the earth for a specified time within God’s plan. Again, I don’t like giving the devil a second’s worth of attention that doesn’t belong to him; but I do know his influence is real and he will do anything to distract me from my relationship with my Lord and Savior.
….Ok, I guess I kinda went off on a tangent from my opening statement so I’ll just wrap it up by saying, “This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Blessings –
Greg Morton
© October 1, 2009
Certainly there is nothing inherently wrong with either of these words or their applications. Reflecting on our past can be comforting at times; and learning from our past mistakes is without a doubt essential. And, of course, looking forward and setting goals for ourselves and our family is just as important. Like I said….the words aren’t inherently bad, but we should still be mindful that the devil loves to intervene in subtle ways. Using “yesterday” and “tomorrow” can be footholds if we aren’t attentive to where these thought processes take us.
I’ve written numerous times about the devil and on evil in general, but it never ceases to amaze me how God keeps me on my game about the gravity and seriousness of the devil’s role in my spiritual well being. The devil isn’t just an obstacle in life; his manipulations are more than just tests to either pass or fail; his affect on all of us—Christian or unsaved—is real and bears our full attention. Don’t get me wrong… I don’t believe we should give him undue attention. I’ve fallen into the trap of directing my focus more on him and his wily ways than on the blessings I’m receiving from God. Now that’s just plain wrong.
I wrote in my lyrics to “Welcome to the Real World”:
Welcome to the real world
, Where satan has the reign
A kingdom full of darkness
, His playground for our pain
If you haven’t heard the song, it really isn’t as dark as this chorus might imply; but it does reflect a reality that he’s been given dominion over the earth for a specified time within God’s plan. Again, I don’t like giving the devil a second’s worth of attention that doesn’t belong to him; but I do know his influence is real and he will do anything to distract me from my relationship with my Lord and Savior.
….Ok, I guess I kinda went off on a tangent from my opening statement so I’ll just wrap it up by saying, “This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Blessings –
Greg Morton
© October 1, 2009
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