Magnification Monday

Sherlock Holmes was one of my childhood heroes.  Being a vertically challenged, awkward looking, somewhat shy kid… I gained hope from the idea that being smart could actually benefit you.  And while I couldn’t smoke a pipe at such a young age I could get my hands on a magnifying glass.

What I didn’t realize though was that more than having a magnifying glass…

I was meant to be one.

And so are you.

“Oh magnify the Lord with me…” Psalm 34:3

Magnifying glasses work because of the way they are bent… they have a curve that redirects light in a certain way that does a few specific things that we, as Christians, are called to do…

Magnifying glasses make it easier to see.  Whatever it is that you are looking at, when you look at it through a magnifying glass it brings out the detail… it allows you to see things you couldn’t before.  Technically, it actually changes the angle your eye is seeing at causing you to use more of the surface area of your retina.  The closer the magnifying glass gets to the eye… the larger the image.  The more “bent” the glass is… the greater the curve… the better the image.

As a Christian you are created with a special “bent”… you have a way about you… a gifting… a calling.  God desires that people would not only see Him through you… but that they would see Him in more detail.  Of course… in order to do that… you need to get closer to them.

Make it easier for them to see Him.

Magnifying glasses focus the light.  Raise your hand if you ever started a fire with a magnifying glass! (and yes,  burning insects… or the back of a friend’s neck when they weren’t looking counts…)  When you get out of the way and let the sunlight shine through a magnifying glass it is powerful… it is intense… it can start a fire.

Now… raise your hand if you want let the Son-Light shine through you in such a way that causes not just a spark… but an all-consuming fire!  A contagious… multiplying… wick-lighting… explosive… intense… holy blaze that sets the forest of men-as-trees we call the church into such a roaring flame that the heat of heaven consumes everything around us!

There is a fire you were meant to start… and only you… a way in which the Light will go through your special “curve”… your unique “bent”… and cause just the right intensity of His Love to set things a blaze… to Light them up.

Let it.

Magnifying glasses need to be positioned to work.  When I would act the part of Sherlock Holmes I needed to pick the magnifying glass up for it to work.  It needed to be constantly adjusted… the angle… the distance… in order for it to fulfill its purpose.

If you are to be the magnifying glass you were meant to be… you need to be in His hands.  You need to allow Him to position you.  It might be uncomfortable.  He might bring you a little closer to some than you would otherwise want… He might turn you a bit… adjust your angle… position you…

So that the right amount of Light gets through and the best image of Him comes in to focus.

Today I am challenging you to not just be a window through which others see heaven… today I am challenging you to be a magnifying glass.   Let God use you… your calling… your gifting… your “bent”… to magnify Him.  Get close enough to others so that they get a better… a BIGGER… a more detailed picture of Who God is.

Start a fire.

In Jesus’ name.

SDG

News Relese: ROTC defeats most popular religion

Religion is the act or process of relying upon.

The most widely practiced religion in the world, not just today, but ever… that invades every system of belief… permeates every denomination within Christendom… and beckons every single person to its altars…is the religion of self-reliance. 

The act or process or relying upon one’s self.

People have come to believe that the only one looking out for them… is them.  That in order to prove anything… you must first prove yourself.  That you need to earn and fight for a place… or you will  be replaced.

And so, they have come to rely on themselves for…

Happiness… Success… Pleasure…

by proving of one’s self to be right, by giving in to one’s desires, by defending one’s position…

and all at the expense of others.  Whether admittedly or not… when you look up to yourself… you look down on others.

Whether they are fighting for a spot in the corner office… or time at the pulpit…

To lead a business… or a ministry…

When it is done in their own strength… they are priests of their own altars… exalting their own selves… covered in the filthy rags of their own righteousness… practicing self-reliance.

Believe me, I know.  I was ordained in the religion of self-reliance.  And I was not alone.  Pride was with me.

So what does the ROTC have to do with this?  How can it help us to seek relationship rather than religion… to move from self-reliance into the place of God’s Grace?

A "sworn statement of witness"

I am known for telling stories… again… and again… and yes… again.

It can become redundant.  And as good (in my humble opinion) as these stores can be there are times when people slump their shoulders and give me the “not again” look.

I gained 30 pounds just by promising to first take and finish a bite of food before I started to tell a story.* (Of course, it was mainly to distract me while people fled the room!)

I love a good story.  Whether told by myself or someone else.

But even more than stories... more than carefully crafted commentary or perfectly prepared preludes … I love testimonies.

“Sworn statements of witness.”

Things that people have witnessed for themselves… things that they would swear to.

Christian Graffiti

While others might call them vandals… they call themselves artists.

Street Artists to be exact.  And their claim to fame… graffiti.

Not only do they transform the appearance of cement, brick, and metal structures they do it in incredible time, against incredible odds…

And often at incredible heights.

Some just “tag” things with a symbol or a signature… perhaps an act of rebellion… or a cry to be noticed.

Others… they truly do produce works of art.

And while we can understand why the owners of the buildings or the people living in the neighborhoods want them to stop…

We can also understand why they do it.