Copyright Heartlight Gallery
“A man’s life is always more forcible than his speech. If his life and doctrine disagree, the mass of onlookers will accept his practice and reject his preaching”
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That’s pretty scary when you think about it.
How often when we go about our daily lives or are in a hurry, we let down our guard and who we really are, manifast instead.
The sad thing, is that people sometimes remember us for our worse than our best and if we are Christians, we might as well be walking around with a microscope forever trained on us.
There are those who, because we are Christians, because of personal experiences (either good or bad), prejudices or bias or plain, just not knowing, who are going to be our harshest critics and like it or not, people are human and apt to judge us, based not on taking the time to know us, but on what they think they know of us.
My pastor often talk of how, after church, he would go to a resturaunt to eat, and see people that are either pretty obvious they are getting out of church (and one of the church crowd) or maybe he has seen them at church, but they haven’t seen him, act their worse versus their “Sunday best”.
He goes, the scary thing is that often, for some, that is the real them and not what they actively present to others.
Maybe we have other things on our mind, or a bad day, or well, maybe that is the real us, and when we think no one is looking, let down our guard and our real selves come out.
Question is, when our real selves come out, is it the Holy Spirit that is working in and through us, or is it us?
We all have bad days.
There is no way around it.
So long as we are still on this earth and in our earthly forms, we are still subject to the hormones and emotions of being human, but it’s no excuse at the same time though, for just well, selectively choosing how and who we are going to act a certain way.
Maybe that person you decide to brush off, is having a bad day and could have really use some “brotherly love” at that time; Maybe someone who is unsaved and had been thinking about coming to Christ, sees you at your worse and decides against being a Christian due to seeing what THEY think is a reason not to become a Christian.
It’s a burden but when we join the familiy of Christ, it is a burden that we all bear.
We are God’s ambassadors to a hurting and grieving world and unfortuantely, sometimes, that first impression, is all we get.
One of the devotionals, I receive is from Dr. Jeremiah and I read this, as I worked on this post,
"Everything we do in life becomes evidence of who we truly are. What does our life's evidence say about us? Does it say that we merely profess to be a follower of Christ or does it reveal our love and true devotion to Him?While our goal should not be a morally perfect life, we should strive to have a walk with the Lord that is consistently growing and changing to resemble the One whom we serve."
What could be more of a stumbling block for a fellow Christian who is still young in their relationship, maybe someone who is going through a trial that you and I are unaware of in our lives, or even then, for someone who is contemplating becoming a Christian, then a Christian who acts in a way that blocks or shuts off the light that God tries to shine in and through us, to the broken world.
Before we shut off our lights to a fellow Christian, or to the unsaved, we need to stop and ask ourselves; How would we honestly feel if we were in their shoes?
Would this bring us closer to God or farther or away from God?
We don't always know what is going on in someone's else life or what they are really thinking or even the whole story and sometimes may find ourselves surprised by what we thought we knew, but turns out we really don't, but sometimes, the damage has already been done before it can be fixed.
It's not to say that our Father in Heaven, won't find a way around. He will, but it will be used for a teaching moment for us as it's used as a leading moment for another.
Through and in our Father, all things work to HIS GLORY and He finds a way, no matter what the situation, but what better what of worship, but by actively being His vessal and letting His light shine in and through us to bring others, not to us, or for our benefit, but for HIS!
So the next time, we think of turning off that light because of "Fill in the blank whatever it was that offended us"...ask yourself...Our Father in Heaven didn't selectively turn the light on and off, but even when we, ourselves, was at our "fill in the situation", He was still there and kept that light shining bright so like a broken ship out in sea, we could safely come to harbor and in His arms for safety.
What if, we may and I say, maybe the only light to our Father, that another will see or ever see? Don't turn off the light...but shine brighter so that all can see our Heavenly Father and the Glory and Hope that HE offers.
What happens on Sunflower Faith?
It is a pretty inspirational quote for the day. It is really true if you want others to see Jesus be a His light…
life’s journey(Quote) (Reply)
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May our lights shine evermore for Christ!!!
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..WFW: little children… =-.
Lauren(Quote) (Reply)
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WOW…thanks for the challenge to truly let our lights shine…all the time…even on the “bad days.” You’re so right! Happy WFW!
Bobbi(Quote) (Reply)
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May we all shine brightly for Him in all things!!
Thanks for visiting By His Grace today. When I saw the picture of the ostrich, I knew I HAD to use it. God gave me the perfect verse. May our words be pleasing to Him as we shine our lights in this dark world.
Blessings to you!!
Jenifer
Jenifer(Quote) (Reply)
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Amen! I agree with you completely! People know we are Christians and they are watching us. We need to walk the talk. Thank you for this encouragement today. Happy WFW!
.-= Alicia, The Snowflake´s last blog ..Delight =-.
Alicia, The Snowflake(Quote) (Reply)
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That is such a beautiful verse. I pray it will be true for the songs I write on my music website.
.-= Cathy´s last blog ..Word Filled Wednesday =-.
Cathy(Quote) (Reply)
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Wow…what a great word!! And so full of truth. Our lives is the gospel some people only get to read.
Thanks for sharing these awesome quotes and thoughts to go with them. I’ve missed stopping by.
Hope your day was blessed?
.-= Susan´s last blog ..What’s in your mouth? =-.
Susan(Quote) (Reply)
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Susan, always a blessing to hear from you and others; I’ve missed visiting everyone’s blog and reading their posts and just blogging myself but I can’t say I’m complaining either…lol.Life has been busy but I say “good busy” because I can feel and see our Father working in all areas of the people I interact with and just with my family lives. As we were reminded at a past service, our lives are an act of service to Him.
Lol..though it’s great when I can get a break here and there…LOL
Twinkle Mom(Quote) (Reply)
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Girl…this is one of my all time favorite verses to not only say but to illustrate! It just reminds me…and I need the constant reminder!
I LOVE the new look….so fresh and clean! How are you guys doing over there! Think of you all the time!
hugs,
lori
lori@allyouhavetogive(Quote) (Reply)
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Excellent points and great picture.
Kaye Swain(Quote) (Reply)
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Awesome WFW.
Denise(Quote) (Reply)
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