reality

Its so easy to lose sight of the awesomeness of God's love. A seemingly infinite array of distractions parade before us each day. And not all of them are innately evil. Some are just normal, legitimate stuff of life. Nevertheless, they draw the eyes of our heart away from Jesus, making us vulnerable to the "deceitfulness of sin". We must train ourselves to respond to the call of the Holy Spirit to wait upon the Lord. Oh man, how religious does that sound? I just cant think of another way to say it. I cant think of a "seeker-friendly" way to say that God wants to interact with me, one on one. That information just doesn't sound normal, no matter what kind of words you use to say it. We are not of this world. Thirty years ago, I closed my eyes to pray for the first time, and when I opened them, I was in another place. It looked like the same place I had lived in for almost twenty years, but it was different. Really I was different. My eyes were opened to the reality of God, and His incredible love for me. I was introduced to the purpose for which I was created. I lived in a new world. I couldn't... I wouldn't go back for anything. This is reality.

He is the truth... He is reality.

Any life lived outside of a relationship with Him is a deception.

The world hates that sort of language. It sounds so closed-minded. They call it arrogant, among other things. It cant be helped. Its true. And when He opens our eyes to that reality, and draws us into His loving embrace, He calls us to help Him reach out to those around us to bring them into the same experience. He calls us to a life of loving servanthood. He calls us to lay down our lives to demonstrate His love. And every day, the kingdom of darkness does its very best to distract us from fulfilling that calling. The spiritual forces that run this present world are committed to keeping us from drawing near to God, and from expressing His love to those who don't know Jesus. Its a war. Good and evil. God and satan. That doesn't sound very sophisticated in our modern world of scientific discovery. But its true.

Its reality.

So, as Paul said, we must fight the fight of faith. We must treasure our time with God, learning to recognize His presence, and hear His voice. The more clearly we see Him, the more fully our hearts will be set free to serve Him fearlessly in the world. The realization of His love for us will ignite that same sort of love in our hearts for others.

Lord... we pray, open our eyes.