When we look at ourselves in GOD’s mirror of love we should see Christ.

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GOOD CREDIT:   Possessing beauty is not the same as creating beauty.  If some of us are born beautiful, why should we take or get credit for it?  Only our CREATOR deserves such credit.  As such, the only beauty we might seek credit for is the beauty we create ourselves. 

CALMING THE BEAST:   There is a beast in us that is untamed by nature and must be caged by society’s norms.  If let out, this beast will certainly demonstrate its appetite for destruction.  However, when the beast in us is tamed by love and peace, and then let out, we are inclined to contribute more abundantly to GOD’s landscape of beauty.  And it is beauty that calms the beast. When it is Christ’s beauty that wills the beast in us, people see the best in us. 

FLOWER SEED:   Beauty begins like a flower seed planted within us. If the right set of conditions is present, the seed sprouts gloriously into flowering imagination.  Some people spend their lifetime trying to reproduce images of their flower so that others might experience and appreciate it.  Seemingly, the greater the talent the more maddening it is for those engaged in this reproduction.  However, there is no greater beauty than when our life itself is shaped by our flower.  And, there is no easier form of expression than to make our life the canvas for our flower.  Finally, there is no better judge of the flower than GOD who planted the seed.

Faith begins where possibility ends. 

BOUYANCY:  Eventually, we must all take the plunge into the deep end of the pool of life’s uncertainty.  This inevitable uncertainty can soak and drown us with fright. But suppose, by the grace of GOD and the instruction of Christ, we know how to float or swim? Oh, how glorious the plunge.  Even though our faith gives us buoyancy when life’s circumstances cast us into turbulent waters, we must still swim to the shore.  We caress the buoyancy that our faith gives us.  We stroke with the power of love toward the shore of our destiny. 

LEAP OF FAITH:  Faith is often frowned upon by intellectuals who are on a continual quest to fill the vacuum created by all that is unknown and unseen.  To many, exercising faith infers complicity with mere wishful thinking.  The so-called learned would rather speak of knowledge, which infers a foundation of empirical or factual thinking.  In fact, the more we know, the less we need of faith. Therefore, knowledge nibbles incessantly at faith.   Knowledge can be gained through experience, which classifies such knowledge as empirical. Empirically, there are infinite reasons to know that GOD exists, lest we deny ourselves. Infinity, itself, humbles the most powerful of intellects. As such, it would appear that faith in GOD is mis-spent faith;   for we have an overwhelming number of reasons to be confident in GOD.  What requires faith is our initial leap off our cliff of knowledge into the spiritual abyss of Christ love.  We jump with the faith that we won’t spiral out of control in conflict and confusion; but rather find peace and joy.  We jump with the faith that we will please GOD. Somewhat after our leap of faith, we gain experience as we train our wings of love.  As we begin to soar, mysteries are de-mystified through our experiences of flight; and empirically, faith is indeed replaced by knowledge. 

A warm heart is no accident.     A cold heart is a tragedy. 

CHARGED UP!   For us to mutually participate in an electrifying spiritual experience, our hearts must be connected into a complete circuit.  The switch is love. When the switch is on, our hearts are in contact and receptive to each other.  Our egos act as circuit breakers.   GOD designed us perfectly to get charged up and to charge others up to do GOD’s work.  When our individual power runs low, we benefit from heart-to-heart charges. The power is GOD’s Holy Spirit. 

PERFECT ACTS:  We should strive to produce clarity in our hearts as to the character and nature to which we aspire.  This effort is facilitated by examining ourselves through the lens and light of Christ.    Acts compelled by our aspirations speak volumes about the condition of our heart.  Perfect acts are always generated from loving hearts, regardless to how the acts turn out.

HOLY GUIDANCE SYSTEM:  In all of us, there is a space reserved for GOD.  When that space is filled with GOD’s influence, the Holy Spirit, a holy guidance system is activated.  This system works primarily on our heart.  Thus, we are enabled to lead with our minds while following our heart.   When this heart space is filled with anything but GOD’s influence, we lose our sense of direction; get off course; and can’t steer the narrow way of Christ to GOD’s glory. 

Love is eternal.  Hate is infernal.

FLAP OUR DREAMS:  When we cement our feet to the past while we stretch for a future that is always out of reach, we create tension and stress in our lives.  However, when we flap our dreams against the air of opportunity that GOD has given us, we enjoy a flight from stress.  But first we must have dreams and then we must soar; otherwise, why have dreams? 

BUCKETS:  Are our individual buckets of joy half empty because they are being emptied by the tilting force of life’s problems?  Or are they half full because they are being filled by the blessings of life’s opportunities? 

THE WATER IS FINE:  For many of us, it took a gentle shove of loving encouragement for us to jump into GOD’s pool of salvation.  Once in, we quickly adjusted to the water’s refreshing coolness under the sweltering hot sun of sin.  And giddy and joyful like children, we still don’t want to get out. 

GOD LOVE?  Trusting in GOD is the first step towards loving GOD. Imitating Christ is the next step. Feeling the joy of the Holy Spirit is the last step. 

SUCH LOVE:  We cannot love GOD as if GOD is an object. Oftentimes, when people attempt to do so, they end up with idols.  The sure way to love GOD is to show love, as inspired by Christ.   Such love is not currency.  Such love flows like the relentless waves of the sea.  Such love glimmers with beauty. Such love withers in a vacuum or in a display case. Such love fuses us with all of GOD’s creation. Such love makes us giddy with excitement. Such love compels us to glorify GOD. 

LOVE LETTER:  Let us be a love letter to GOD, written by the hand of Christ on the tablet of our heart.  Let us not be a letter of resignation. 

SUPERNATURAL LOVE:  It is not natural to love those who consider themselves our enemy.  It just ain’t natural!   However, it is quite natural to love our family and friends.  Therefore, it takes GOD’s supernatural grace for us to love our enemies. 

WORLD OF LOVE:   If GOD ‘so loved the world’ then why are some so critical of loving the world? We can love the world without being mastered by the world.  Love and dominion are at the opposite poles of motivation.  If we ‘so loved the world’ we might indeed end up with a world of love.  The hope and future of humanity lies in a world of love. 

May the fog of violence soon be lifted to reveal a peace-filled world. 

PEACE EQUATION:   The total mass of person-to-person compassion multiplied by the velocity-squared of justice in a given society equals the total energy supporting its peace.
P
E = MC-squared
A
C
E

PEACEFUL NATURE:  Nature, in all its actions, constantly seeks calm, rhythm, and equilibrium; all of which ultimately lead to peace and harmony.  When it is our nature to be on the other side of peace and harmony, we ourselves become a force against nature. 

POWER OF PEACE:  We often underestimate the power of peace and the energy it takes to maintain it.  If more energy was invested in growing and maintaining peace, far less energy would be wasted in conflict. 

GOD’s love makes us do strange and wonderful things. 

DANCING WITH ETERNITY:  Our earthly protrusions are dependent on vital elements without which they fail to move intact and under our creative wills.  Our corporate masses are wrapped inside and out with eternal forces that are imbued with infinite possibilities. Our souls provide the adhesion for these wondrous forces.  Oh GOD, how exhilarating it is that YOU have given us this corporal opportunity to dance with eternity.  We yearn to discover infinite ways to praise YOU and glorify YOU from the unbounded dimensions of our souls.