Heart reflections
Last time on Choosing Peace, I wrapped up my 12 favorite mirror verses—important truths included in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Today we’ll explore three scriptures about mirrors or reflections.
Get ready to read about tech support, egg yolks and the Christian Industrial Complex.
Mirror #1—heart reflections
This truth hit me hard recently.
As water reflects a face,
so a man’s heart reflects the man.
Proverbs 27:19, New Heart English Bible
An ugly spot in my heart
Have you ever responded to something very strongly, and when you looked back on the incident, you thought, “Where did that come from?” I displayed some seriously strong reactions during the last couple weeks—multiple times.
Procrastination station and starting over
At work, I needed to make a call to tech support. Ugh. In the post about God’s provision, I wrote:
Have I mentioned how much I hate dealing with tech support? It’s not that they’re unkind or anything; I just hate dealing with that stuff. I’d rather go to the dentist. I mean it. Heavy sigh.
Since I absolutely despise dealing with tech support, I procrastinate about it. I put it off. I find other things to do instead. Eventually, I bite the bullet and do it. My tech support call at work actually went very well. What I needed to accomplish was accomplished—and I even got a refund.
Next, I filled out the online registration forms for an upcoming doctor’s appointment. There were probably 20 different screens filled with questions or forms to read and sign. It was long. After I got mostly finished, I clicked the Back button to correct an answer, and the system shut down. I had to start over. I was not happy.
The feds and the loser
The next day, I needed to accomplish tasks on government websites. On both counts, it went horribly. Bye-bye to several hours of my life for things that should’ve taken 15 minutes each. Foul language exploded out of my mouth repeatedly. Tech support call #1 revealed that my driver’s license was expired. That’s why things didn’t work. Yikes.
On the driver’s license renewal website, the frustrations were also epic. Tech support effort #2 involved an online chat where the responder cut and pasted pre-scripted answers. Extremely annoying. When I asked him to notify their programmers about how their payment page wasn’t working, he said, basically: “I only do tech support. Get lost, woman.” Did foul language fly out again, or did I just call him a loser? I don’t remember the details, but I suspect it was colorful.
The real problem
Why did I totally lose it on those two frustrating government websites? Because I hate dealing with tech support! Actually, that’s not the whole story. What I’m really allergic to is admitting that I can’t do something—needing to ask for help on something I “should” be able to figure out or do on my own. Where does that come from? One of my dad’s big mantras that he drilled into my head while I was growing up: “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Translation: “Other people are incompetent.” “Don’t ask anyone for help.” “Asking for help means you’re stupid (or lazy). And you will regret it.”
While I was typing this section, I said out loud: “Lord, I need a vacation, and I just had one.”
What’s going on here? Techno-wise, I was gifted with repeated opportunities to ask for help—including another call to tech support at work. More significantly, I have some surgeries on the horizon and can no longer do basic things at home, like cooking dinner. I must use my limited daily steps carefully and wisely. And I must frequently ask for help. There’s no getting around that reality anymore. One of the big, unhealthy, dysfunctional no-no’s of my life—“Don’t ask for help”—is getting pulverized. It has to go.
Replacing the deep-seated lie with the truth
Because I over-served my family all these years, Brandon and Logan were trained to under-serve. None of us benefitted from that arrangement. I must become comfortable asking for help and being served by others—without feeling stupid or lazy or compromised. I must replace my dad’s lie—“If you want something done right, do it yourself”—with God’s truth:
Helping is an expression of love. For love to flow freely,
I must give and receive help freely and peacefully.
Can I actually do that? Can I ask for and receive help freely and peacefully? Sure I can—with the Holy Spirit’s help and encouragement. And—let’s face it—I’m getting lots of practice: four tech support calls in two weeks, plus daily requests for help at home, and some at work as well. You see, the Holy Spirit very wisely enrolled Little Miss I-Can-Do-Everything-By-Myself in the current session of Asking for Help Boot Camp. I’ve obviously been a resistant and belligerent camper at times. For the longest time, I was in denial that I was even at Asking for Help Boot Camp. But after my double-help-desk-freak-out last weekend, my enrollment in this necessary sanctification process became crystal clear.
As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
Proverbs 27:19, New Heart English Bible
Yep. That goes for the womenfolk too.
Heart reflections
My heart has not been pretty in The Asking for Help Department. Not pretty at all. God is helping me with that big-time, and I’m grateful. It’s time for me to rest, relax and receive. I’m getting better at all three—resting, relaxing and receiving. I really am. Thanks be to God!
Our responses to hardship can sometimes thrust our faces
to the mirror or to The Waters of Reflection.
Our heart reflections reveal things
we may not see otherwise.
Your turn
Get out your journal or a piece of paper and take some time to think about these things. Can you remember a time when your face was thrust toward the mirror or The Waters of Reflection? What was going on, and who or what was involved? Did your anger, fear, pride, apathy and/or another vice play a part in that season? What did God reveal to you about yourself and what needed to be conquered, replaced or healed? Where are you in the sanctification process on that issue? What have you learned?
For a list of vices and virtues, see The Inner State section of this post.
Pride
As for me, I didn’t recognize my over-serving—my “I don’t need any help” attitude—as a pride issue; but it clearly was. Hmmm. With my eyes open, with clarity about what God showed me in the mirror, I must think rightly—rejecting my dad’s mantra and training and replacing it with God’s truth and training. “Helping is an expression of love. For love to flow freely, I must give and receive help freely and peacefully.”
I am not smarter or better than other people. I do not have all the answers. I do not have unlimited capabilities or strength. I clearly need help in many areas of my life. And I will ask for what I need or want. I will ask.
I place this process, this season and all the results
in God’s loving, mighty, faithful hands.
Mirror #2—seeing dimly
The next scripture passage with a mirror comes from the famous Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is complete has come, that which is partial will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become an adult, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:9-13, New Heart English Bible
The second coming
In verse 10 above, this phrase—“when that which is complete has come”—refers to the second coming of Jesus. “That which is complete” means Jesus; so the phrase is saying: “when Jesus has come again.” The ESV translates “that which is complete” as “the perfect.”
When our perfect Savior, Jesus Christ, returns in power, we’ll see him clearly and we’ll be like him.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. We know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
1 John 3:2, New Heart English Bible
Scriptures
Drink in these scriptures about the second coming of Christ:
♦ Matthew 24:29-31
♦ Matthew 25:31-34
♦ Acts 1:9-11
♦ 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
♦ 2 Peter 3:8-14
♦ Colossians 3:4
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.
1 Corinthians 13:12a, New Heart English Bible
When Jesus returns, we’ll see him and ourselves clearly and rightly. Hallelujah!
Misled
In this life, we often see dimly—without clarity. Like the photo above, we may see the general setting, but the details are fuzzy. We may miss the snake slithering across the floor or the spiders crawling up the walls. We may think, “I met her at church, so she must be okay” or “He knows the Bible, so he must be a Christian.” Remember, my violent, sociopathic father-in-law was a church elder. So was his extremely violent father-in-law before him. What people saw of these men on Sunday morning wasn’t remotely true. It was lie after lie after lie.
Think about some times when you thought you were seeing or hearing the truth and you found out later that you were being seriously misled. I can think of many, many examples, which came from news sources, entertainment, books, teachers, advertisers, preachers, friends, everyday people, and major sickos like Her Majesty, my sociopathic mother-in-law, and my sibling, Pam, The Almighty.
Food formation
When we were growing up, we were taught The Food Pyramid in school—and bread was pushed hard. It was supposedly the #1 most important thing to eat. Butter was bad, salt was bad, egg yolks were bad, animal fat was bad, beef was bad, the sun was bad, fresh air was bad, and so on. My mom replaced our butter with margarine. That stuff was awful. When I left home, I bought salted butter—the good stuff. It turns out that what The Powers That Be taught us was bad for us was actually essential. Imagine that.
The scientists and the food industry lied to us. Harmful chemicals were sprayed on crops and were also generously included in processed foods. People got sicker and/or fatter, and started taking various pharmaceuticals. Even though the pharmaceuticals didn’t make them well, the people kept taking them day-after-day, year-after-year, decade-after-decade. Big Food was actually walking hand-in-hand with Big Pharma the whole time, and we had no idea. (See the documentary Food, Inc.)
While our bodies are important, our souls are so much more important.
Spiritual formation
Many popular Christian leaders are seriously compromised. Many are wolves in sheep’s clothing, like Robert Morris. I’ve covered the NAR (New Apostolic Reformation); false prophets; the prosperity gospel, faith healers and scandals; and social justice warriors. In the social justice warrior camp, we find once-admired preachers like Max Lucado. Preachers in this camp chose to forsake their responsibility to protect their flock—becoming spiritual saboteurs and false prophets instead. This is very serious business in the Lord’s eyes, and should be very serious to us too.
Watch this eye-opening Seth Gruber podcast with guest Megan Basham: “Your Favorite Christian Elites Refused to Mourn Their Martyred Brother.” Learn about Big Eva, which stands for Big Evangelicalism. Big Eva runs her show just like Big Food, Big Pharma and Big Tech. They’ve got us covered in every department, don’t you know.
Seth Gruber’s excellent podcast explores dark realities. Popular, well-known Big Eva preachers like Tim Keller, Matt Chandler, Ray Ortlund and hundreds of others got in bed with the woke agenda and sold out the gospel and their people. What about publications like “Christianity Today”? Hijacked entirely by far-left staffers and ideology. Its founder, Billy Graham, is turning in his grave.
The danger of the Christian Industrial Complex
Peaceful Readers, we must exercise extreme caution when dealing with the Christian Industrial Complex—popular preachers, writers, leaders, teachers, theologians and musicians. The serpent infiltrated and poisoned this camp and its so-called Christian universities and seminaries decades ago. (Details in this documentary: Beneath Sheep’s Clothing.)
Learn about good and bad training in The Joy of the Lord, part 9. Here’s an excerpt:
Good trainers and the best training
There are some excellent, godly preachers and authors out there. Be discerning. Be wise. Be prayerful. Ask God: Is this message true? Does this person’s ministry bring you glory? Is this person devoted fully to you? Watch this Doreen Virtue video, “Why Are Women’s Bible Studies Filled with False Teachers?” It includes excellent advice for discerning a good teacher from a bad teacher. Also, check the NAR Connections list before you sit under anyone’s teaching—spoken or written.
If you’re looking for an excellent Bible study, consider Bible Study Fellowship (BSF).
God’s holy word is the best teaching of all. Be trained by God’s inspired, inerrant word.
Mirror #3—knowledge without knowing
Godly wisdom’s protection
Godly wisdom can protect us from many missteps and—yea, verily—disasters. For godly wisdom, we must (1) know what God’s word says, (2) love and trust Jesus, and (3) hear from and obey the Holy Spirit. If we know the word but don’t love or trust Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we won’t desire to please our triune God. Consider our third mirror passage:
But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But he who looks into the perfect Law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this person will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22-25, New Heart English Bible
A heart instead of a résumé
I understand this passage well. I heard the word for many years—going to church three times a week, memorizing scripture, competing in Bible drills, singing in the choir, and more. My parents helped me create a great church résumé, but I didn’t know Jesus. I was a hearer of the word and not a doer. When I got saved at age 33, I finally became a doer of the word because I loved Jesus. He changed my heart of stone to a heart of flesh.
A “doer of the word” isn’t perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. Sanctification—growing more and more like Jesus—is an ongoing process.
The Holy Spirit changes us one thought, one issue,
one relationship at a time—if we’re willing.
Chiseling out more pride
Sometimes, as a “doer of the word,” we can over-do things, like serving others. Our energy and actions are out of balance with God’s perfect ways. We deceive ourselves.
If you told me earlier this year that I still had a serious pride issue, I would’ve retorted: “I most certainly do not!” But as my limping got more profound, my need for help became more pronounced, and those expletives flew out of my mouth during The Tech Support Trials, my prideful “I don’t need any help” stance came into focus. The Holy Spirit showed me the truth about my Help-Me-Not Pride—a spot in my heart that needed to go.
The Lord showed me the truth for my good and for the good of others.
I’m good with that.
How about an important repeat from earlier today:
With my eyes open, with clarity about what God showed me in the mirror, I must think rightly—rejecting my dad’s mantra and training and replacing it with God’s truth and training. “Helping is an expression of love. For love to flow freely, I must give and receive help freely and peacefully.”
A powerhouse passage from James
The passage below from the book of James relates to our third mirror—hearing the word but not doing it. People who say they believe in Jesus but are essentially unchanged deceive themselves. God is not deceived. Pay special attention to verse 19b shown in italics.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? And if a brother or sister is poorly clothed and may be lacking in daily food, and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled;” and yet you did not give them the things the body needs, what good is it? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. But do you want to know, foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness;” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In like manner was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
James 2:14-26, New Heart English Bible
Knowledge vs. knowing
In this important passage, the word “faith” can be a synonym for biblical knowledge. Many people know what the Bible says. Satan certainly knows what the Bible says and can frequently be found quoting and misquoting it for his own malicious, violent agenda. (My evil mother-in-law is also a fan of misquoting the Bible.)
Many people know what the Bible says and claim to be Christians, but they don’t love and treasure Jesus. Indeed, they’ve never met him. To use some old-fashioned vernacular: “Knowledge about someone does not a relationship make.” Here’s an example. If I read a well-written biography on President Donald Trump, I might think that I know him. But if we ran into each other on the street, he wouldn’t stop and say, “Frankie Ann! Great to see you! How’s the family?” He wouldn’t have the foggiest idea who I was because we’ve never met. We don’t know each other. Jesus spoke to this issue.
Receiving vs. rejecting
The Christian faith requires a relationship with Jesus—believing plus the essential receiving. The demons believe and do not receive. They believe who Jesus is and simultaneously reject him. A number of biblical scholars—and dangerous people with certain personality disorders—do the same.
I’m reminded of the article “Honoring Your Father When He’s Evil” featured in this post’s eye-opening addendum about evil. The author’s father had a PhD, taught adults in Sunday school, and read works by theologian Louis Berkhof. He was also a violent man who terrorized his family—threatening multiple times to shoot and kill them if they ever tried to leave him. Let’s call him Axelrod, or Rod for short. Rod believed who Jesus was but didn’t receive him—didn’t know him. This evil father knew what the Bible said, but he didn’t live it. Rod was a hearer of the word, but not a doer of the word. His “faith” or biblical knowledge didn’t change him. Instead of living the word of God, Rod twisted words like “forgive” and “honor” to control his victims. He would tell you all day long that he had faith. But Rod was the poster child for this truth: “Faith without works is dead.” In this context, “faith” means believing that Jesus is who he says he is. And that, my friends, is not enough. It is not saving faith. Knowing that Jesus spoke the truth about his identity is not transforming faith. It is not the true faith that makes us the children of God. Why is that? Because it leaves Jesus out. At a heart level, it rejects Jesus, just like the demons do.
Have you ever met anyone like Rod? Someone who knows about Jesus, does the Sunday morning show, but has never met Jesus? I sure have. They can be exceedingly dangerous, like my in-laws and Pam, The Almighty. They can also be on TV, preaching to millions. They can be best-selling “Christian” authors or singers. Beware. (Remember to check this NAR list.)
Ask the Lord for discernment, protection and courage.
That was heavy. Let’s change gears and stroll to a peaceful ending.
Changing seasons
With cooler fall weather in the 10-day forecast, I’m really looking forward to wearing my turtlenecks and sweatshirts. I love cool weather. Winter is my favorite season in Texas. (I’d definitely feel differently if I lived in South Dakota.)
Yesterday, I watched this scenic video of a train ride through Colorado’s Royal Gorge for a while. Very peaceful and relaxing—a great reminder of the Lord’s goodness. If you need to relax and reflect, these kinds of scenic videos are wonderful.
Speaking of fall, Logan’s home for fall break. He joked with me today and made me laugh and laugh. He is a hoot. Could you use some smiles or laughter today? Check out this sweet, 3-minute video of a little girl with her dog. You will love it.
This fall, I’ll be moving into a new season—retirement. I’m so excited about it that I couldn’t fall asleep last night. I was like a giddy schoolgirl, thinking joyfully about my new season. Thanks be to God!
A verse for all seasons
Take this verse with you wherever you go—regardless of what season may surround or await you.
For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.
1 Corinthians 14:33a, New Heart English Bible
The peace of Christ be with you all—now and forever. Be blessed by the gentle song below by CityAlight.
Coming next: I have no idea what’s coming next or when it will arrive. Check back every now and then. Until next time, thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Truth from The Word: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Song: “The Goodness of Jesus” by CityAlight
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