Vision

I started this blog with writings on reflections, ripples in the water, etc. Today the ripples are still. The mirror is clear. What may appear one way sometimes can be distorted. Perception and reality mesh and the image is clear. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil 2:5-8 points us to the perfect perception. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Without this mind the dots connect in patterns that do not exalt Christ. Wrong conclusions are derived from misleading thoughts. "He will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You." Isaiah 26:3 Such incredible peace flows in this place where our mind joins with The Holy Trinity to see as He sees. Through the lens of belief, we actually see what others cannot see. "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" 1 Peter 1:8

This is mindboggling to me. There are those people who are close to important people and stars. By being in the inner circle they get to know these celebrities. Even in those circles they do not know the thoughts of their dearest friends. The Most Important Entity/Person existing is so intimate with us that our thoughts join.

Of course, God reserves His Privacy in unpermitted areas. Sin came about in the beginning of time when Adam & Eve ate from the forbidden tree. The Garden was full of wonderful food, perfect living conditions, etc. The temptation was to have it all. If we could just fathom how much is available to us. We don't have to know all of God's secrets. What is revealed is so rich, so deep, and so life-transforming, that we can be totally satisfied without even a glance at forbidden territory.

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. " Ps 23:5 Overflowing! Our lives can be not only full, but overflowing.

Out of a full cup, the overflow is what reaches to a world stumbling in blindness, groping for a flicker of recognition or light enough to take the next step. It is true that we as Christians are full. We have the answers for starving humanity in a dry and thirsty land. The reason there is no overflow is that our eyes are not "stayed on You." Isaiah 26:3

Fruits

I'm reminded of names we wrote on the floor of Houston's First Baptist Church during remodeling before they put the carpet down. It is now called Foundations of Prayer and many prayers are being answered, because people pray over the names that are written. We have also experienced answered prayer, but the fruits are unto the Lord at this time. Those people will share their stories without shame, as they cannot keep it to themselves. In the fullness of time there will resounding praise.

I read Spurgeon's devotional for today and had to share.

"Pleasant fruits, new and old; which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved."
Song of Solomon 7:13

"The spouse desires to give to Jesus all that she produces. Our heart has 'all manner of pleasant fruits,' both 'old and new,' and they are laid up for our Beloved. At this rich autumnal season of fruit, let us survey our stores. We have new fruits. We desire to feel new life, new joy, new gratitude; we wish to make new resolves and carry them out by new labors; our heart blossoms with new prayers, and our soul is pledging herself to new efforts. But we have some old fruits too. There is our first love: a choice fruit that! and Jesus delights in it. There is our first faith: that simple faith by which, having nothing, we became possessors of all things. There is our joy when first we knew the Lord: let us revive it. We have our old remembrances of the promises. How faithful has God been! In sickness, how softly did he make our bed! In deep waters, how placidly did he buoy us up! In the flaming furnace, how graciously did he deliver us. Old fruits, indeed! We have many of them, for his mercies have been more than the hairs of our head. Old sins we must regret, but then we have had repentances which he has given us, by which we have wept our way to the cross, and learned the merit of his blood. We have fruits, this morning, both new and old; but here is the point-they are all laid up for Jesus. Truly, those are the best and most acceptable services in which Jesus is the solitary aim of the soul, and his glory, without any admixture whatever, the end of all our efforts. Let our many fruits be laid up only for our Beloved; let us display them when he is with us, and not hold them up before the gaze of men. Jesus, we will turn the key in our garden door, and none shall enter to rob thee of one good fruit from the soil which thou has watered with thy bloody sweat. Our all shall be thine, thine only, O Jesus, our Beloved!