With Eyes Wide Open

 by Chris Jones

Has this ever happened to you?

The other day, I walked out to the garage to get something I needed. Thinking I remembered where I left it, I puzzled over why I couldn’t find it quickly. Without wasting too much time, I returned to the house, assuming I’d find it in one of  the several places that I typically lay things down (because my wife loves when I do that). Still, nothing. I bounced between the garage and the house a couple of times, before I finally found what I was looking for, laying just inches from where I originally looked.

It made me think, how many times do I miss what’s really happening around me, because I’m so sure of what I think I know. It’s as though we develop blinders of sorts, over the course of our lives. We grow so focused on the “truths” we’ve been delivered, that we lose the ability to see things as they really are, even when the answers are right in front of us.

I believe there’s much God is trying to reveal to His people. If we really take a step back, and ask Him to let us see our world and His Word with a fresh perspective, I think many would be surprised by what social, political, religious and familiar norms are just residue of some well-intentioned but misguided voices we’ve allowed to speak into our lives.

Holy Spirit, help us live with our spiritual and physical eyes wide open. Help us see ourselves as we are, and for who we’re called to be. Allow us to recognize the needs we’ve been designed to meet. Show us what we’re missing, where you’ve placed us. Give us a willingness to let go of the comfortable ideologies that aren’t inspired by the Father. Let your grace and mercy be experienced through our lives, as You empower us to be a demonstration of your love to this world. Amen!

Getting The Message

 by Chris Jones

The telephone game always cracked me up. You remember it, right? It’s the one where someone whispers a phrase to someone else. That person, then proceeds to pass the phrase along, each participant whispering what they think they heard, to the next. After the message has been passed through several people, it morphs into something completely unintended. A phrase that started as “my great granny likes to giggle with mates at work” becomes “my giant fanny looks jiggly when I make it twerk”.

It’s so important to get the message from the source.

What does this mean for us, as Christians, if we neglect to read the Bible and engage in an active prayer life? If all we ever hear of God comes from second-hand sources, how can we ever know that we’re hearing the whole story? How do we know that the parts we are hearing are accurate?

John 8:31-32 says “…You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” If this is true, we better know that we’re hearing the whole truth. There’s no better way of knowing, than getting it straight from the source.

Are You Losing Credibility?

 by Chris Jones

There aren’t many people I trust without reservation.  Perhaps that says more about me than it says about “people”.  There’s a troubling lack of firm, consistent standards in our lives.  Sadly, the rate by which individuals fall to life’s myriad temptations is seemingly no different among Christian leaders than among people with other beliefs, or lack of.

Problems arise from God using men to deliver the news that His love bridged the distance that separated us, if we can’t be trusted.  Men, after all, are the primary vehicle by which He chose to make this truth known.  Men are responsible for laying the foundation of all we know God to be, since His Word has been relayed through them.  Is it possible, then, that we jeopardize the credibility of these men of God when we, as modern-day “men and women of God”, don’t consider how well or how poorly our example might reinforce their message?

Unfortunately, it’s all-too-easy to lose credibility.  We lose credibility as Christians, when we live at odds with one another.  We lose credibility with our neighbors, when we live without peace in our homes.  Pastors lose credibility when they embellish details of a true story, for the sake of maximizing it’s impact in a sermon.  Churches lose credibility when they have a form of godliness, but deny His power.  While any one of these things may seem small on their own, together they give the world every reason to not believe.

Our lives are on display.  If you profess to be a Christian, people are looking to you for something in which they can believe.  The challenge, then, is not to convince people of the truth, but to live according to that truth.  When our beliefs translate into convictions that permeate our lives, we can be sure that the credibility of God’s Word will be evident in us.