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Posts Tagged ‘reflect Christ’

Rose-colored

Posted in Christian, tagged , , , , , on August 2, 2018| 2 Comments »

As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. Proverbs 27:19

I have a turnstile on my bathroom dressing area where I keep my colognes, lotions and hair products. Easier to reach. As I spun it to locate my rose scented ones, I noticed the rose water, which is pink, now looked salmon-colored. How unique!

Then I noticed the reason. A bottle with amber liquid behind it shined through the rose water, appearing to change it’s color. As soon as I picked up the rose water, it returned to a soft carnation hue.

God whispered in my ear. This is you.

On my own, I am who I am. You get what you expect you would from a Christian widow my age, race and income level. I am not going to change from a rose to a bird of paradise or an exotic orchid. It’s not my nature.

But when Christ shines through me, I become unique. Oh, I am the same–yet different. I am transformed from the inside out. So are you.

Accepting Christ into our lives doesn’t change who we are. It doesn’t instantly make us skinnier or taller or have fuller wavy hair. We suddenly can’t sing like an angel when before we couldn’t carry a tune. I wish…

But how we appear to the world can change. Our attitudes of serving others before ourselves, or being kind, or forgiving in nature–all the things the world is not used to observing in human behavior is now reflected in our lives because Jesus shines through our hearts.

There is one major difference, however. I could remove the rose water from the amber cologne sitting next to it so it went back to its original color. We may think we can remove ourselves from Christ, but the truth is this: He never quite goes away.

Once we respond to His knocking on our heart’s door and let Him in, a part of Him always remains. We may shut Him out, but He is never far away.  We may assume we are not acting Christian enough and are not worthy to reflect His light but there is still something shining through. And it is beautiful, eye-catching and unique.

Others are not viewing us through rose-colored glasses. We are still “us.” However, they can clearly see Christ’s influence in our lives.

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Reflected

Posted in Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , on August 17, 2015| 3 Comments »

IMAG0296Every morning I curl up on my couch with my coffee and my Bible. (Only way to start the day…I make sure the cats are chomping their kibbles so they leave me alone.) Today, the sun’s angle shone onto my son’s photo on the book shelf catty-cornered to my line of vision. I noticed the crystal cross I had sitting on the shelf near it reflected upon him. Ah!

I love my family. I am sure you do as well. But families are very human. That means we can rub against each other’s nerves at times. We have histories together and we know each other’s faults, mistakes and stumbles. That can color our view of them.

On the other end of the scale, our loyalty and love can obscure who they really are. We develop a tendency to overlook actions or tolerate attitudes we wouldn’t in friends or coworkers because they are, well, family. “Oh, that’s just Uncle Joe.” “My sister can be like that, but you don’t know her as l I do.”  “My little nephew can do no wrong. Sweet and smart as a whip.”

How much clearer when we see them through the cross. When we see them reflected through God’s vision, we can not only see them as His child, as sinners like us in need of a Savior. We glimpse the potential God envisions and strives to mold our loved ones be.  We become more tolerant  and more realistic in how they appear in our minds. Hurts dissolve. Jealousies no longer cloud the issues.

We are also no longer blinded by love and can truly lead the family member to come to know our Lord, who also sees us for who we are. By seeing them through Christ, we can love them in a healthy, productive way and help them to seek forgiveness, change their lives and grow in His will for their lives.

We just have to see them reflected through the cross more often and ask the Son to shine through onto our relationship.

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