A baby arrives with nothing on and we add a blanket for warmth. As the child grows new layers are added to cloth and protect. Throughout life, the child grows physically, mentally and emotionally. Different layers are added in various forms depending on their exposure to experiences and situations. The layers are still protective, but now they can be very damaging and can even create distorted views of reality. The courts believe in the reasonable person's perception when determining state of mind and the reality of circumstances; which demands the a question. What is reality or a real perception? The answer lies at the root of the person. The root is where the person began as a child and the layers were added with each new life event that causes a scar or damages them emotionally over time. The layers, over time, have hidden the person God created fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14).
As you walk around and look at people, you should be curious about who they really are on the inside beneath the layers. With certainty, you should know that what you see is not who they really are and/or created to be by the Creator. It is only through a relationship or personal experience do we ever really know a person. We can live with someone for years and never really know them; especially if we have not peeled back the layers of their personality or characteristics to determine the unblemished babe that encountered life along the way. Not everyone will allow that type of exposures. For the ones you encounter and they allow you to peel back the layers, they will surely be changed for life. There is something that happens to a heart when it encounters agape love. More importantly, there is something that happens to a person sharing their life experiences with someone living 'down under' in life.
We mistakenly think this life is our own to prosper in our own way or do what we will. The Bible says, the heart is deceitful (untrustworthy), and we should be wary of what the heart tells you. Jeremiah 17:9 say the "heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. We are commanded to Love the Lord, our God, with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind (Matthew 22:37). With that task comes a better revelation of Jesus, if we strive for that command. We then understand that we spiritually die to ourselves. We are then raised to life again through Jesus in order to love ourselves and the life given for His good works. What if we all worked hard to peel back the layers so that we could find ourselves? Instead of covering up our hurts and experiences, what if we shared them so that no one else had to go through the same hurt you did? What if we had a chance to save a life or win a soul to try Christ with one conversation? What if in the process of saving them, you saved yourself and revealed the real you?
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are. (Romans 8:18-19)
Father of Heaven and Earth, You alone can save us. While on this beautiful earth and in a world that is seemingly falling apart from corner to corner, will You expose us to a fresh revelation of Jesus and His life on earth. We have much knowledge and wisdom to gain from Your son's life as we was humbled, abused, frightened and the power of His death and resurrection. I declare today that I have been crucified with Christ, dead in Christ, raised to a new life through Christ for good works now and forevermore. Holy Spirit, awaken my soul to who I am in Christ and grant me wisdom to walk out my faith. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
As you walk around and look at people, you should be curious about who they really are on the inside beneath the layers. With certainty, you should know that what you see is not who they really are and/or created to be by the Creator. It is only through a relationship or personal experience do we ever really know a person. We can live with someone for years and never really know them; especially if we have not peeled back the layers of their personality or characteristics to determine the unblemished babe that encountered life along the way. Not everyone will allow that type of exposures. For the ones you encounter and they allow you to peel back the layers, they will surely be changed for life. There is something that happens to a heart when it encounters agape love. More importantly, there is something that happens to a person sharing their life experiences with someone living 'down under' in life.
We mistakenly think this life is our own to prosper in our own way or do what we will. The Bible says, the heart is deceitful (untrustworthy), and we should be wary of what the heart tells you. Jeremiah 17:9 say the "heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. We are commanded to Love the Lord, our God, with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind (Matthew 22:37). With that task comes a better revelation of Jesus, if we strive for that command. We then understand that we spiritually die to ourselves. We are then raised to life again through Jesus in order to love ourselves and the life given for His good works. What if we all worked hard to peel back the layers so that we could find ourselves? Instead of covering up our hurts and experiences, what if we shared them so that no one else had to go through the same hurt you did? What if we had a chance to save a life or win a soul to try Christ with one conversation? What if in the process of saving them, you saved yourself and revealed the real you?
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are. (Romans 8:18-19)
Father of Heaven and Earth, You alone can save us. While on this beautiful earth and in a world that is seemingly falling apart from corner to corner, will You expose us to a fresh revelation of Jesus and His life on earth. We have much knowledge and wisdom to gain from Your son's life as we was humbled, abused, frightened and the power of His death and resurrection. I declare today that I have been crucified with Christ, dead in Christ, raised to a new life through Christ for good works now and forevermore. Holy Spirit, awaken my soul to who I am in Christ and grant me wisdom to walk out my faith. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
