I never know what I am going to see each morning when I
push up the blinds in our master bedroom.
It is a western facing window with views of our front lawn, the wooded
commons area next to our property, and in the opposite direction, the far side
of our backyard. What I do know though,
is that my eyes will almost always be met with a visual treat of mother nature
and the many little critters that occupy the land around us.
Many times it is one, two or three brightly colored
Cardinals pecking at the grass looking for delightful tidbits for breakfast or
padding for their nests. On other days
it could be the sight of a couple of squirrels frolicking with each other as
they run across the side picket fence, across the lawn and up into one the many
trees around the yard. Once I was
awestruck at the sight of the beautiful hawk that frequents the woods all
around us as he sat majestically on one of the fence posts. When I put up the blinds on that particular day,
he just calmly sat there and seem to nod his head in acknowledgement of my
presence at the window.
Today as I looked out over the land I didn’t see anything
of importance until I sat down on my bed across from Piper’s and began to pray
and confess our morning healing scriptures over her. As I was speaking the Word, I caught a
movement in one of the trees near the road in front of our property. When I focused in, I realized that it was a
small colorful woodpecker tapping away near the top of the tree. I wasn’t close enough to be able to clearly describe
the bird and a glance over to Piper’s dresser showed me that the extra pair of
binoculars that I normally keep there for times such as these weren’t there… mental note: find the binoculars and
put them back where they belong Jim!
But nevertheless, I couldn’t help but take in the morning show
and think about the goodness of God in nature as well as His working mightily
in the everyday activities of our lives.
One thought that popped into my mind as I watched that little bird today
was that although I may not know from day to day what will be outside our
bedroom window first thing every morning, I do know that there will be
something beautiful for me to cast my eyes upon around this gorgeous piece of
property that the good Lord has given to us to enjoy at this time in our lives. In the almost three years that we have lived
here, I guess that I have come to expect it each and every day!
The familiar scripture in Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today,
and forever” (God’s Word ©) and like my expectations when I look out
that window each day, I’ve come to expect that what He’s done in the past that
He’ll do again today and, in the future, as well. Over the years that truth has just become a
part of who Piper and I are.
When Piper and I were given the medical evaluation from
those first brain scans back in 2007, we IMMEDIATELY
knew that the only choice we had was to trust in God and the truth of His
Word. When we returned home to
California we expected our friends and family to fall right in with that line
of thought… and as you now know… not
all of them did! But although it was difficult
for us, we soon came to realize that the way others thought about Piper’s condition
and the steps we were taking to deal with it… really did nothing to change our plans and our chosen course of action.
Piper just had a visit with the Nurse Practitioner from
hospice, and to be honest, not all of her examination brought good news, but
you know… it still doesn’t affect what we are believing for in line with God’s
Word, or with the course of action we are taking. James 1:22 tells us “to be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding
yourselves with false ideas.” (Good News Bible)
This verse says a lot of things and is a very important command
for believers to follow. It’s an action
verse that should direct the way we think, speak and act. It tells us what to do and what happens when
you don’t! In the simplest language possible,
it is telling us to not just only read and/or hear the Word of God but to put what
you’ve heard into action… or else you
blind yourself from the truth and make a fool out of yourself by advocating and
following false ideas. We’ve seen
that happen over the years as well as when we returned home after Bible School
and believe-you-me it can be quite embarrassing for the one’s involved!
What I particularly like about the directives of this verse
is found at the very beginning where the author says “to be…” Be what?
A doer of the Word. According to
the original Greek a “doer” is an
individual who “performs” what the
Word says. This person is one who “obeys or fulfills” what the Word says
to do. (Thayer’s) Robertson’s Word
Pictures describes it as “an old word for
‘agent.’” So, a Christian is an
agent… and not necessarily a ‘secret agent’ for God. We don’t hide our beliefs from public view
but visibly perform them for all our world to see.
The Jamieson-Faucet-Brown commentary says that in order to “Be doers” we must “do the Word… systematically and continually, as if this was your
regular business.” Like I’ve stated
many times before, that description paints a very accurate picture of how I came
to see my wife during the early days of our relationship while still in High
School! I’d never seen anything like it
before. For all intent and purposes, she
would have been one of those “religious”
folks who I usually made a point of staying away from. But she
was different.
Her Christian walk was who she was… you couldn’t separate
her Christianity from everything she thought, said and the actions she took. Every time I squeezed her (and I did that A LOT!) out oozed Jesus…
That may be a funny statement, but it was and still is true! Can you honestly say that about
yourself? It’s like I was saying to the
hospice nurse just a few moments ago.
Since this attack on Piper’s health, I’ve seen a lot of people squeezed with
their emotions over our situation and what’s come out hasn’t always been nice!
What do you think?
What type of ooze would you emit?
Have a great new week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “If squeezed, am I expecting to be a ‘doer’
of the Word today?”
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