"Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen."
GENESIS 1-2
15Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
16And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”.(2:15-18)
MATTHEW 1
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,f because he will save his people from their sins.”
JOURNAL
So what is the significance of New Year's day. Reality is it's just another day. This is a new day with new challenges and new opportunities. For most of my adult life I have approached each new year with great hope. I've always been greatly hopeful and excited to get what feels like a do-over. I've made lists and plans and put in all kinds of goals. Some of them were seemingly helpful, others not so much.
This year is no different. I have many thoughts and dreams and hopes for this next year. I have thought of all kinds of ways to make this year be different and to do better, be better so that my hopes and dreams actually materialize. But these last few weeks I have been nagged by a continual thought...that thought is captured within the single word of glimpse. To define the word glimpse is not really that hard. The dictionary defines it as "a momentary or partial view" or "to see or perceive briefly or partially."
Glimpses are how we function as humans. We rarely ever see the complete truth, from the physical to the relational to the spiritual, our brains function by making sense of the glimpses. We get a partial truth or image and our brain begins the process of making sense of that truth or image. From the perspective of the future, we get a partial view and then our brain begins to predict the outcome of that truth or image. Far too often I depend and hope in the glimpses and translate them into predictions of fact or truth or guarantees for the future.
As a human spending my time tying myself up in nots over glimpses creates big, big problems and from my understanding of scripture God constantly warns us against depending on glimpses. It actually is what started the whole spiral of sin in the beginning. Instead of Adam and Eve depending on what they knew to be right and true, they fell prey to a glimpse and a hope of something better.
Trying to take all that in and filter it through my limited brain and understanding of God...I believe this idea is God telling me to anchor my hopes in things I know are true. Stop constantly trying to figure out the glimpses and instead take them for what they are..."a momentary or partial view". The glimpses may be truth or they may be evil disguised as truth. Which is why I must live as much in the present and in the truth of God and his commands for my life.
So what is the significance of New Year's day. Reality is it's just another day. This is a new day with new challenges and new opportunities. For most of my adult life I have approached each new year with great hope. I've always been greatly hopeful and excited to get what feels like a do-over. I've made lists and plans and put in all kinds of goals. Some of them were seemingly helpful, others not so much.
This year is no different. I have many thoughts and dreams and hopes for this next year. I have thought of all kinds of ways to make this year be different and to do better, be better so that my hopes and dreams actually materialize. But these last few weeks I have been nagged by a continual thought...that thought is captured within the single word of glimpse. To define the word glimpse is not really that hard. The dictionary defines it as "a momentary or partial view" or "to see or perceive briefly or partially."
Glimpses are how we function as humans. We rarely ever see the complete truth, from the physical to the relational to the spiritual, our brains function by making sense of the glimpses. We get a partial truth or image and our brain begins the process of making sense of that truth or image. From the perspective of the future, we get a partial view and then our brain begins to predict the outcome of that truth or image. Far too often I depend and hope in the glimpses and translate them into predictions of fact or truth or guarantees for the future.
As a human spending my time tying myself up in nots over glimpses creates big, big problems and from my understanding of scripture God constantly warns us against depending on glimpses. It actually is what started the whole spiral of sin in the beginning. Instead of Adam and Eve depending on what they knew to be right and true, they fell prey to a glimpse and a hope of something better.
Trying to take all that in and filter it through my limited brain and understanding of God...I believe this idea is God telling me to anchor my hopes in things I know are true. Stop constantly trying to figure out the glimpses and instead take them for what they are..."a momentary or partial view". The glimpses may be truth or they may be evil disguised as truth. Which is why I must live as much in the present and in the truth of God and his commands for my life.
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
LUKE 11:28
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