I have people in my life that I strongly disagree with, people I love and respect. I hope that those same people love and respect me even though we may be at odds on a great many things. To many in my family I’m the outsider. I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs, I am a goody two shoes who goes to church. That has kept me at arms length with a great deal of my family. I don’t get invited to parties or poker nights or just to go hang out. I’m ignored most the time and probably not thought about a lot. But, as distant from my family as I am—I love them. There’s much about their lives that I disagree with but—I love them. There’s a great many things that have made me angry regarding my family members but—I love them. 
 
On the other spectrum, I have a nephew who is about as opposite of me as is possible. Politically he is a communist and I am anti-all parties. He is agnostic (or atheist as he still trying to figure that out) while I am excitedly Christian. He wears all black all the time where as I love bright colors. He is a pothead and loves to drink while I hate everything to do with drugs and alcohol. There have been times where these differences and many others have caused tension between us, but we never lost the love and the respect for one another. I can sit down and have a conversation with him about our differing political views and I can hear him out and I know he hears me out. We don’t go into these conversations trying to change one another we just talk and listen and accept that we are different and love each other regardless. And when tensions arise the love is still there. And yes, there is often tension and frustration. 
 
I was watching the new show God Friended Me and it got me to thinking about how often we let those things that are different about one another keep us from truly engaging. In the show the main character is an atheist and his father is a reverend and they don’t talk. They can go for months without saying a word to one another and when they do come together they fight. There is no respect and there’s a little love in those conversations. It’s all about staking their claim and bolstering their point instead of listening, understanding and loving. Frankly, this is common place in our world today and as mentioned above, in my life. It’s important to really examine how we treat one another. The people that you keep at arms link, why is that? Sometimes there are legitimate reasons and sometimes our own stubbornness gets in the way. 
 
Besides the fact that I was just watching the show so it is fresh in my mind, I bring this up because were moving into a part of Colossians 3 that talks about vices and virtues. We all succumb to temptation, we all screw up, we all have our own opinions, we all have problems and we all have things that keep us apart. But, we have one very important thing that does bring us all together and that is Jesus. Even for the non-believer, Jesus still brings us all together because He gave us believers a very important piece of instruction in the Bible: love one another. Christ was the greatest example of unconditional love, we must be that example to the world and break down the walls that wanna keep us all apart. We are supposed to love one another, we’re supposed to love all and that includes ourselves. As you take time to examine yourself or take time to examine others, don’t lose sight of Jesus and His message. Where can forgiveness reign, where can hope spring up or where can walls be torn down because of love in your life? ​

What do you think God sees when He looks at you? Honestly. Take a moment and really dig deep into how you feel about the idea of God’s eyes on you.

I was listening to a spiritual exercise yesterday and it instructed me at the beginning to stand up and be seen by God. The idea was not that God couldn’t see me where I was sitting, but it was about having me face the idea of God looking me up and down from head to toe. I’ll admit I didn’t stand. I think I was a little afraid, no...I was very afraid to face that type of scrutiny. I know that God loves me and that He sees all of my beauty, but I still see all of my scars and my flaws and my darkness. He sees all of that and still sees beauty. Incredible. God said to us, “You’re beautiful from head to toe, my dear love, beautiful beyond compare, absolutely flawless.” Song of Solomon 4:7 (MSG) It’s right there in the Bible, in the Word of God, in the life breathed and inspired Word of God. His message for us says that I am absolutely flawless. It says that you are beautiful beyond compare. Can you say that to yourself? I’m crying right now trying to get the words out. Trying to put myself in that mindset and accept that level of love and forgiveness and acceptance, it’s really hard and I just pray it isn’t impossible. If I was recording this you would hear all my pauses as I sniffle and have to catch my breath through the tears.

​I want you to understand how much God loves you and the amazing views that He sees in you every single moment of eternity. He has seen everything you are, everything you’ve done and everything you will do and He has seen a beauty beyond compare and someone who is flawless in His eyes since the beginning of time. Can you see that for even just a moment? Can you accept yourself fully and completely for just a second? Can you believe in your beauty inside and out? And what would your life look like if you could? How would that change you? I need to encourage you to read that scripture over and over and over again and believe that to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit you are truly loved and you are the Beloved. Let Him reveal that to you. 

I was reminded yesterday why it is so important to experience this reveal. I was having a conversation with a well-meaning person who felt it necessary to tell me his opinion on my relationship with God. He proceeded to tell me what I needed to be discussing with God and how I needed to act in regards to my walk with Christ. This person actually told me that I was wrong in my thinking and proceeded to scold me. There was a time in my life where somebody telling me that would have spun me out. I have, on too many occasions, been dragged down bad roads that lead to pain and suffering by mostly well meeting people who told me what they believed God wanted me to know. Those experiences have left ugly scars in life. Looking back, my stomach turns thinking about the pain caused by other people's message for me.

Hallelujah, God has been working in my life and revealing Himself to me and in the process revealing my true self to me. This journey has allowed me greater discernment and wisdom, technically His discernment and wisdom, about my life and about my relationship with Him. I need to know me. I need to know Him. I need to walk this journey side by side with God. I need to know what He’s doing in my life. There are many things I need to know. Hallelujah, God has all the answers. Through my relationship with Jesus, through His relationship with me, I was able to thank this man for his concerns and then leave those concerns at God’s feet. I walked away from the conversation a but frustrated, but mostly able to leave it behind. Because I know myself and Jesus better now than I did when I was younger, I can step back and trust God to do the revealing of His true message for me.

The two greatest relationships we will have in life is with our Creator and ourselves. Let Him reveal His beauty to you and in the process you will get to meet yourself as well. I’ll make it easy for you, start with “hello.” ​

What makes you you? That question has been asked and answered by philosophers, scientists, clergy, your crazy aunt, and many more. It’s probably a question that will be asked forever. One of the things we search for in this life is a deeper meaning to our purpose and a greater understanding of ourselves. Why are we here and who are we supposed to be? We are made up of dreams and ideas and feelings and experiences and a calling on our lives. All of those things, when we tap into the truth of them, reveals God in us. Janet Ruffing said, “Our desires, our wants, our longings, our outward and inward searching—when uncovered, expressed, and recognized—all lead to the Divine Beloved. . . . All our desires ultimately lead us to God.” Our true desires, for security, for peace, for hope, for joy, reveal God in us. Our personal desires and dreams, like my desire to write and to counsel, reveal the intimate relationship and specific attributes God places in each of me. The more we learn about these desires and these ideas, our calling and purpose open up more and more of who we are, and more and more of who God is. 
 
Going back to my desire to write, I want to write to tell stories, to express heart, express hope, express redemption and to tell stories that will inspire. God does that all the time. We have His word as a instruction book for life, full of stories that do all of that and teach us new things every day. He is revealing Himself the more He reveals me. And as He reveals me the more He reveals Himself. That’s what happens when Jesus lives in you, you will have Him as a part of you and all that which you were born too and for will be revealed. You are His beloved, let Him show you all that is in you that He loves so much. Let Him love on you, let Him reveal Himself to you and show you who the true you really is. ​

We humans have a love-hate relationship with the truth; and it changes depending on what truth we’re having to face. Last week my nephew decided to move to Twin Falls. He had gotten it in his head that if he did not leave immediately he would never leave the Treasure Valley. He believed he was stuck. That became in his mind a truth. So, he went to visit some friends in Twin Falls and had a plan to get a job there. A few days later he texted me and tells me he is going to San Francisco by mostly hitchhiking. With the last of his money he made it as far as Salt Lake City. And then he got stuck. He spent several days unable to get out of the city, hungry, alone, cold and in a lot of ways lost. It wasn’t long after that he told me he was coming back. He has a whole new plan now, it’s actually his old plan that he was talking about a year ago that he never did anything about. His perceived truth chased him away from the real truth of his life and dreams here in Idaho.

In my opinion, this entire thing had to do with a health scare. Just a few short weeks after a bad spell he was in Twin Falls. This trip was about running away from the truth about himself, avoiding his doctors, avoiding people around him that we’re going to ask him questions about his health and in general avoiding the truth that was weighing on him. In his case, he ran. I myself have locked myself away, ignored the truth, yelled at the truth and even beat it up a few times. The crazy thing is, it’s not always bad truth I am fighting against. Sometimes even the best truth can scare the crap out of me. It’s mental. I’m mental! But the reality is: we all are. There’s something very raw and vulnerable about the truth. And it doesn’t always have to be our truth either, just hearing truth can wreck us to our core. You would think that we would all want to run after something as important as the truth. Yet, we are terrified of it. When it comes to our relationship with God, when He reveals Himself to us, we are forced to face Truth. And not just any truth, but the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Capital “T” Truth! There is a reason why the world fears and in some respects despises Jesus, in part because of His truth and what it means about us. He is perfection that we can never be and yet we live that struggle every single day. We are told by society what perfect is and that we need to conform to those standards. But it’s all superficial, because we can never ever be perfect. But we can be loved by perfection. We can be saved by perfection. We can be raised up from our muck by perfection. The truth about love, the truth about hope, the truth about peace, the truth about who we really are undermines everything the world is trying to make us believe. Jesus reveals Himself in every moment of every day of your life, and He is just waiting for you to respond. Open your heart, open your mind and let Truth be revealed.