August 20, 2012
Transformation Thought
Dominique, my oldest daughter, moved into a house just off campus at the University of Pittsburgh with two great Christian friends after enduring one year of college dorm parties. She and Martine did some road trip bonding, bringing along furniture and massively cleaning and painting. They stayed with my cousin Chuckie, 45 minutes from Pitt, where I was born. I haven’t lived there in over 40 years, but I still have many relatives in the area.
One stop right down the street from Chuckie is my little Granny Guzy’s house. Wow! So many memories come back whenever I go up the hill to her house above the Monongahela River. She pinches my cheeks and calls me junior. Ever since I can remember she’s never called me Karl. She makes me 2 huge sandwiches or perogies, and buys me Sugar Pops for breakfast (now with a politically correct name, Corn Pops). Granny doesn’t see me as a media-expert-psychiatrist. She sees me as if I am still 8 years old. Furthermore, it’s very hard for me to see myself accurately – as a 49 year old professional, a husband and father – when I’m being perceived through lenses that portray me as an 8 year old kid.
So, how do you see yourself? If you are looking honestly through your own eyes, chances are you don’t like what you see. We are all sinners … lost, inadequate, and fleshly driven. Compound that with Satan, the Great Deceiver, tricking us to see ourselves as alone, unloved, unwanted, unable to tolerate pain, and needing his quick fix for our problems. Sometimes your fleshly lenses skew your self-evaluation to the other end of the spectrum and you see yourself as King of your world, much better than you really are, entitled to way more than you really deserve. You know, the mentality of the “me” generation: “My kingdom come, My will be done.”
The best goal is to see ourselves through the clearest, most accurate lenses of all, the eyes of God … seeing yourself as someone who is deeply loved and valued. Healing, comfort, protection, and peace are abundantly provided, but we need to seek them through Him and then steward them well. How? Immerse yourself in God’s Holy Bible. It’s a tremendous story about God’s love for you and His pursuit of you. Read and see just how much He loves you. He offers you more love, peace, wisdom, and protection than you could ever get from Satan’s world system.
Today, look in the mirror and evaluate your base, knee-jerk view of yourself. Then, perhaps while in the bathroom, read Luke 1:26 – 2:21 (the Christmas Story) and John 18, 19 & 20 (the Easter story). Don’t say, “I know these stories, I can skip the reading” … JUST READ THEM. They are short. Use this time to see yourself thru God’s lenses. You will be amazed at how clearly you will see yourself, your surroundings, and your life. Viewing yourself through Granny’s, your own, or God’s lenses is your decision, so choose well.
Prayer
Dear Father, You are the peak of all my desires and all my hopes. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last: who is, and was, and is to come. You have brought so many pleasures and blessings into my life. Thank You, Jesus. I receive Your gifts with open arms, but help me, my God, to not cling to these gifts. At times I grip your gifts, fearful that I might lose them. But what a peaceful thought to know that the only thing I absolutely need is the one thing I can never lose: Your presence in me. Thank You, Jesus. Today, I try to see myself through Your eyes. Through Your eyes I see myself as someone who is deeply loved and protected by Your presence, which shields me from all evil. I pray in Jesus’ never-ending name; and all God’s children say – AMEN!
The Truth
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:5-8