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Spiritual Disciplines – Part 7 (Study, Submission, and Guidance)
can be downloaded here.

Spiritual Disciplines – Part 6 (Fasting and Abstinence)
can be downloaded here.

On Sunday, we talked about Revelation and a big theme that Jon kept coming to was the idea that we should apply this to our lives.  It is common to view Revelation as simply a book predicting future events (or past events depending on your view I guess).  I know that it is hard for me to see how I should live my life differently based on Revelation.  My perception was that a primary way in which we can apply what is written is for us to be even more active in our following of Christ.  I’m not sure exactly what that looks like or if it is even the best application of what we studied.  I am curious what all of your thoughts are on the idea.

Spiritual Disciplines – Part 5 (Confession)
can be downloaded here.

Spiritual Disciplines – Part 4 (Meditation)
can be downloaded here.

Spiritual Disciplines – Part 3 (Meditation)
can be downloaded here.

It’s easy to see that others can lack perspective.  A child declares that they can’t live without a particular toy, but as adults we smile and assure them that their life can be lived without it.  If only they had our perspective. 

A teenager deals with heartbreak at the end of their first relationship and feels the intense pain that it brings.  They feel they might never love again.  But we assure them that the pain eventually does subside, and that though they can hardly imagine it at the time, they will find love again.  If only they had our perspective.

We struggle with the pressures of life that bear down on us, while others who are facing crippling illness or death remind us of how relatively well off we are and how much life we still have before us.  If only we had their perspective.

Jesus often reminded us in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that we lack His perspective.  We are often self-centered, while He reminded us that we were created to love others as ourselves.  We often cling to our possessions, while He reminded us that everything that was made belongs to the Lord.  We live entirely for this life, while He reminded us that we were also meant to live in anticipation of the life to come in eternity.  We are obsessed with our own needs and desires, but miss the movement of God in the greater stories around us and throughout the arch of our own life story.

We are in anguish over all the pain and suffering and poverty and illness in the world, while He gave us the ability, resources and opportunity to address almost all of those things.  We struggle with doubts and fears and worries, and ignore the truth of an ever-present God who invites us into His presence and into a place where there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, no more worry and no more pain. 

If only we had His perspective.