Decision Time...

I have a small group of scriptures that I read aloud or ‘confess’ over me and our family first thing every morning… and in fact, have done so for going on five years now!  I use my small leather-bound Passion Translation Bible as my foundation and have the portions of scripture highlighted, underlined and surrounded by personal notes and insights that I have added along the way.

This translation has become one of my personal favorites and has seen a lot of usage since I purchased it five years ago.  Over that time a few pictures of Piper have also found their way to be inserted between the pages of the book… Gee… I wonder how that happened!

One picture in particular seems to have found a permanent place as an extra bookmark for one of the last verses I look at each morning… not too surprisingly, it’s found next to the LOVE chapter in I Corinthains 13.  It is a simple picture that some of you will recognize as one I’ve previously posted in past blog posts. 

I took the photo of Piper standing in the entrance to our big 12-person tent on a summer vacation we took in July of 1999.  We had traveled six hours from home to our favorite campgrounds located about 5500 feet up a mountain in the Sierra Nevada’s within Plumas Eureka State Park, located in northeastern California near the Nevada border.

To many who look at the picture it looks to be a normal, cute picture of Piper taken as she was exiting the tent after straightening it up before we embarked upon our morning adventures that day.  And they would be right… but there is also SOOOO much more that is physically unseen in the frame that comes alive to me each and every day as I observe the photo while reading the verse it is sitting next to in my Bible!

Along with what was physically captured in my click of the shutter that day, is a whole lifetime of memories associated with our 48 years of life together.  And each morning, the Lord seems to pull out one from the immense pool of memories in my heart and allow me to reflect on and enjoy that special moment from our past.

Today… for whatever reason… I found myself thinking about all the miles… probably thousands… in which we held hands and walked together, from the hollowed halls of Montgomery High School, to the neighborhoods surrounding Chico State University, to the different neighborhoods we lived in …in three different states… over the years!

I have many reflections of Piper and I purchasing various new pairs of walking and exercise shoes for her at Big Five Sporting goods in Santa Rosa as well as at Academy Sports and Outdoors here in Oklahoma… But that is just the tip of the iceberg of the memories of things we saw on the walks, the discussions we had and the love that seemed to flow like electricity between the grip of our hands!

The point of this personal story is about the different things that people see when they look upon a picture, observe or experience a physical event or even when told a set of facts about most any subject matter.  Our scripture verse from the Old Testament book of Psalms, chapter 40, verse 3 graphically defines this phenomenon.  If you’ll recall, David describes his response to a personal hardship in his life when the Lord rescued him from a traumatic series of events, and declared with great enthusiasm,

“A new song for a new day rises up in me every time I think about how God breaks through for me! Ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone HEARS how God has set me free & (1) Many will SEE His miracles & (2) they’ll ‘STAND’ in awe of God & (3) ‘FALL’ in love with him!” (The Passion Translation)  

I took the liberty to add some study aids to the verse in order to help differentiate parts of the statement and be of assistance to you in case you wanted to do some studying on your own, before our continuing blog post next week.  Each one of the three ‘&’s’ are potential DECISION points for the listener and/or reader of this verse of scripture.  In this teaching, David details a supernatural event that occurred in his life… with the expressed desire that it would act as a point of DECISION for those who hear it.

First of all, he joyfully tells of the fresh new song of joy that overtakes him whenever he thinks about the goodness of God with His intervention into his situation.  Then he describes how different people will personally respond to his heart-felt, joy-filled, miracle-filled, singing of praise to God.

He begins by declaring the obvious… that everyone around him will ‘HEAR’ the message he is delivering… but then he goes on to point out… that not everyone will (1) ‘SEE’ from their heart and discern the super-natural miracle of God that occurred and submit to and/or allow themselves to let go of whatever would hold them back and (2) ‘STAND’ in AWE of God and then (3) ‘FALL’ in love with Him (and eagerly pursue the new, close-knit and personal relationship that will develop and grow between them).

The word ‘SEE’ among other things, talks of the ability “to perceive, have the vision of, to discern (the spiritual significance for their lives), to be able to distinguish what they are seeing apart from the world’s view, and to desire to present themselves to God!” (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions)  So, therefore it describes an interpretation that goes beyond what one is physically observing with their eyes alone.

Just like with my example of the photo of Piper at camp.  People who look at the picture have to make the DECISION to just ‘SEE’ what their eyes observe or to take an extra moment or two and allow their hearts to perceive or discern beyond the context of what the frame displays.  And to be honest… from my personal experience… it doesn’t really matter if the people knew her or not.  When she got sick… I was surprised at how many of the individuals who regularly interacted with her… really did not have an accurate picture of who she was or what she really stood for (or they just simply refused to accept it… because it didn’t necessarily agree with their narrative or viewpoint).

David seems to be telling us that when those DECISION points come around in our lives… that we need to DECIDE if we are going to open ourselves up to God’s personal influence in order to potentially expand and enrich our self-worth, outlook on life and the way with interact with others… or just keep the status quo! 

Each one of the three DECISION points in David’s teaching opens the door for the next DECISION we need to make and helps to keep a fresh and ever-increasing place of Christian maturity in our daily walk with God… as well as with our family, friends, neighbors and those strangers we see in the course of our daily lives.

So… What DECISION will you make when those decision- making situations arrive in your life?  I know for myself… that I want to KNOW more, SEE more and DO more for the kingdom of God… HOW ABOUT YOU?

In NEXT WEEK’S BLOG POST, I’ll share some thoughts on what actually happens with us when we make the right DECISIONS to seek and follow through on God’s directions for us.

In the meantime… keep a sharp eye out for the opportunities for DECISIONS that God presents along the way…  & Have a great weekend!