Seeing God in Yourself.
I have often prayed for others to see God in me.
I have often prayed for me to see God in others.
How often do you pray to see God in yourself?
I'm not talking about a moral character trait, although important, I'm talking about your true-self, beneath the masks that we have been conditioned to wear through our lives. Our true, natural self is the image of God in us. Apart from ego-based defenses and optical illusions we project to the world, is where I am most like the Divine image stamped upon me at my first breath. It takes some time to be still; to sit in the quietness of the morning before the phone calls, emails, and traffic, to connect with our higher selves.
Too often we live a role instead of a life.
Jesus, the Christ, is the human image of the Divine. Jesus reminds me where God lives, in me. I pray that I may see God, who is Love, in me today, for I suspect it is difficult to see God in others, or for others to see God in me until I can come to a place where I see God in myself.
8 Comments:
i am a frequesnt visitor here rick. sometimes I like what i read, others i dont. either way there is at least a thought that rises.
Too often we live a role instead of a life.
this screams from the depths of my soul.
most believers are boring, lonely, frustrated people who settle for life rather than experienceing the life of wonder god desires to give them.
we live in a way that offer no beauty of our creator, no longing for others to join us on the journey, no satisfaction in the greatness of him who set us apart.
to that end i will not be know for a complaining, disgruntled, agrivated, selfish, mean spirited religious person who displays a version of god that is not biblical.
life...and life to the full.
not full of hate, not full of worry, not full of paxil, not full of stuff...
full of him and full of life.
i am thinking about all this. having a faith crisis at the moment, i am one of those "boring, lonely, frustrated people who settle for life rather than experiencing the life of wonder god desires to give them." but i don't want to be that way
I think it possible to "live a role" even in an attempt to "see God in me". The difference is in simply finding God a reality Who lives within you. When that happens, all the struggle of trying to "be" as He would have you to be becomes simply a surrender unto what He "is" within you. Not that we ever get it down to a matter of perfection; but, then, when "grace" isn't a mere definition determined by the Book, but an assurance that reveals itself through His life, the Gospel becomes more than my translation of it.......
It's kinda interesting, Rick. Though I am not a Christian in the religious sense, I would use very similar words as you have used here:
Apart from ego-based defenses and optical illusions we project to the world, is where I am most like the Divine image stamped upon me at my first breath.
We are not our egos. We believe our ego to be a useful crutch upon which to face the world, but in fact, our ego is what separates us from the Divine.
Our ego helps to create this illusion of separateness -- from each other, from nature, from God, as you would say. To transcend the ego is to see your original face -- to come home.
Beyond the ego, it is easier to see the Divine in all others. For there is no separation. We are truly all one.
Hi Rick. I appreciate this post very much. It's hard to see God in ourselves. To me it's easier to see Him in others. Because I see Him in others it follows I should see He is in me also, because I am like my brothers and sisters.
I use the word "see" like you did and it is somewhat appropriate, but not completely appropriate because we know God lives in us by faith, not by sight. But belief can be strong, stronger than sight I think in this case. If we knew empirically that God lives in us I think we would be tempted to presumptuousness more than we already are.
Thanks for these little nuggets you write.
Joe
Too often we live a role instead of a life - this struck me.
Another shocker would also be Seeing God in myself... Still digesting that... good stuff here, friend.
Hi Rick, long time no see.
I found this helped me a lot: an article by Tim Keller entitled "Ministry Can Be Dangerous to Your Spiritual Health." ( http://www.redeemer2.com/webuploads/RedeemerNewsletter-2007-03.pdf )
Still praying for ya.
where I am most like the Divine image stamped upon me at my first breath
I was thinking about this today while walking near the lake by our house. Unfortunately, I took it too far and totally soaked a new pair of shoes (and it wasn't even stormy or windy!).
Seriously though, you're right. It's a lot easier to see God in others when we can picture Him in ourselves...
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