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Heavenly Vision |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 3/11/2009 10:15 AM | Greetings on this beautiful pre-spring day!
One of the daily devotionals that I use is a classic written by Oswald Chambers called “My Utmost for His Highest.” Chambers wrote the original edition of this devotional in 1935 and over the years it has been updated to reflect changes in language, but through it all, editors have tried very hard to keep Chambers original intentions and thoughts intact. They have done a great job and it is volume that I would heartily recommend.
This morning the very first paragraph of the devotion hit me square between the eyes: “If we lose the ‘heavenly vision’ God has given us, we alone are responsible – not God. We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled. The only way to be obedient to “the heavenly vision” is to give our utmost for His highest – our best for His glory…the acid test is obedience to the vision of the details of our everyday life – sixty seconds out of every minute, and sixty minutes out of every hour, not just during the times of personal prayer or public meetings.”
Now, how in the world could Chambers have known of one of my struggles when he first wrote this some 74 years ago? If you are anything like me, you know what he is talking about. When we stay focused on God in our midst, God in our life; when we stay focused on the movement of the Holy Spirit and open ourselves up to feel and respond to that movement; when we take the time to shut out the rest of the world and be in silence with God; those are times when we find it relatively easy to feel good about our connection to God and God’s purposes. But what of the rest of the time? What about when we are in the midst of the mundane, day to day, non-religious activities of our life? What about when we are at work in the secular world? That is when it is most important that hold fast to our ‘heavenly vision’. Every day there are opportunities to do God’s will and be witnesses to God’s love and grace in our lives. Every day we encounter people who are at loose ends, lost, because they don’t feel a strong connection to God. We can be that connection. When we can’t see God in the mundane, the everyday, we are just not looking hard enough.
One of our elders, shared a story about a group of people at a dinner party all focused on the negative economy, talking about the bad news, fretting about what would happen next, when suddenly, in the midst of all the doom and gloom, the 5 year old son of the hosts rushed in nuzzling a baby kitten against his face, carrying it tenderly to his parents. “Look what was in the back yard! Can we take care of it? Can we keep it?” Instantly, the mood in the room changed. Suddenly the care and innocence of a small boy and a kitten was the most important thing to focus on. Say what you will, but I think that little boy was God’s vessel for talking to this serious group of grown-ups. And what was God saying? Something like: “Don’t lose sight of what’s important…I am here. Count on it.”
How’s your vision these days? It’s Lent…a good time for a vision checkup…
For an updated prayer list and list of upcoming activities, please go to www.brookhavenchrsitian.org
For your prayer list:
The family of Nancy Eiseland, colleague of Carol Miller, who passed away yesterday after a bout with cancer. Please keep her husband Terry and their daughter in your prayers during this difficult time.
All those victims, families of victims and all those affected by the murderous shooting rampage in south Alabama yesterday.
Joan Palmer as she undergoes eye surgery.
Margaret Luckett, daughter of BCC office manager Ruth Luckett, as she recovers from an infection following minor surgery.
Upcoming events
This Sunday, March 15th is the Annual BCC Chili and Soup Cook Off immediately following worship. Contact Kerry Whatley if you have questions about what you can bring, how you can participate. But even if you don’t have a pot in the competition, come and enjoy the culinary skills of BCC!
If you or your child is interested in the Pastor’s Baptism and Membership Class, please contact me by tomorrow, so the proper amount of materials can be prepared. The class is scheduled for Sunday March 15, Sunday March 22, Sunday March 29 and Sunday April 5 during the Sunday School hour. We will meet in my office at 9:45 and those who so choose, will be baptized on Easter Sunday, April 12. Please let me know ASAP. Thanks!
A request has come in from our Christian Education Ministry: Can you help by donating money to putting together Easter Baskets for the children of the BCC Child Development Center? Prior to Easter, the Sunday School classes will be building baskets for the CDC kids and could use your help for buying baskets, candy, etc., for the baskets. If you are able to donate, simply drop a check in the offering plate, or mail it to the church. Make the check out to BCC and write “EASTER BASKETS” in the memo line. If you have questions, please contact Debbie Kinney at debbie@brookhavenchristian.org
Our brothers and sisters at Clairmont Baptist Church are having an Old Fashioned Hymn Sing in their sanctuary on Sunday March 29th at 6:30 p.m. and they have invited any and all to join in. They are located at 3542 Clairmont Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30319…all are welcome!
I hope you can make it to worship this Sunday as we celebrate the third Sunday of Lent together. The sermon is titled “Sacred Space” and the scripture lesson is John 2: 13-22. Have a great rest of the week.
Be peaceful,
Brad | | | Permalink | Trackback |
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