Morning Thoughts

It is another glorious morning in the great state of Nebraska. As I am looking to move this coming Saturday it is becoming more and more real to me just how much I am going to miss it up here. Though there are many similarities with Kansas, my home state, I am finding there is just something uniquely different here. The sunsets are breathtaking, the stars are bright and majestic, and every single person (almost) you pass by as you are driving waves at you. I was taking a walk around my favorite park the other evening just reflecting on the goodness of God as I've spent a season of much struggle. As I walked around this pond, listening to the birds, watching the rabbits play, and witnessing another breathtaking sunset I couldn't help but worship my Father. One of the things I learned in the midst of such struggle was the great importance of worship and recalling the greatness of God. So many times we get lost in affliction and our focus turns in on ourselves and we quickly find ourselves spiraling further and further down the path of despair. But when we recall the faithfulness and majesty of our God we make Him our focus and that is exactly where our eyes need to be gazed. The Psalmist echoes this truth, "One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple." (27:4) His beauty must be our greatest desire. Our cry must be the cry of Moses who proclaimed, "Show me your Glory!" This truth was further affirmed in my life as I was reading in 2 Corinthians. When we behold the glory and beauty of the Lord it transforms us, not into a mere moral or good person. No, something far beyond what we could even imagine! We become transformed into the image of CHRIST! That is an astounding truth to me. It continues to rock my world and drive me towards the prize. Oh, that I may see Him! "Better is one days in Your courts than thousands elsewhere." In the words of a friend's blog, "Beholding is becoming." How true that is regarding our fellowship with Christ. So today I set my heart to see Jesus Christ. May I not get lost in the tasks of the day or the sin of my wayward heart. But that I may see Christ, exalted in all his beauty and splendor.

"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18