Perspective Helps Us Endure - September 19, 2013

Ephesians 3:17-18
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Romans 8:28
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

James 1:3
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Hebrews 12:2
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Perspective causes us to love God more. The better we understand the nature and ways of God, the more we love him. Paul prayed "that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love." (Ephesians 3:17-18 TEV)

Perspective helps us resist temptation. When we look at a situation from God's viewpoint, we realize the long-term consequences of sin are greater than any short-term pleasure sin might provide. Without perspective we follow our own natural inclinations: "You may think you are on the right road and still end up dead." (Proverbs 14:12 CEV)

Perspective helps us handle trials. When we have God's perspective on life we realize that "... in all things God works for the good of those who love him..." (Romans 8:28) and that "the testing of your faith develops perseverance." (James 1:3)

Perspective was one of the reasons Jesus was able to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:2). He looked past the pain to the joy that was set before him.

What this devo pointed out to me were additional benefits from putting on "God glasses" (as what my previous youth pastor called looking at the world through God's perspective).  When we are able to see things in a similar way as God sees them, we more closely understand and love Him.  Regarding back to the tragedy that recently happened on Bayview and Steeles, I am not able to understand why God does what he does, or why he allows certain things to happen.  Being able to see through God's perspective gives reassurance that He always has a plan and never abandons us.  One verse in today's devo really spoke to me in response to the accident: "... in all things God works for the good of those who love him..." (Romans 8:28).  God says in his own words that everything he does is for our good, since I am not God I do not understand what God may make of the tragedy but I have faith that his word is true.  Putting on our God glasses keeps us rooted in God at all times and brings us into a more intimate and close relationship with Him.  We can view the world differently in a holy manner, growing more and more closer to God, being able to resist temptation, and being able to handle the trials that may come our way.

Perspective, perspective, perspective. Having perspective of things really gives you a totally different aspect of things as well as help you become closer with God. I didn't realize how important having perspective of things are, but now I know just how important it is to have perspective. Perspective helps us learn to love God more, resist temptations better and helps us handle difficult situations.  

Learning to fully understand God and His ways is definitely not easy, but perspective changes that. By having perspective, you learn to have different view points of situations that God gives you, and will better understand the reasoning behind them. And when you understand God better, you will be able to love Him more.
That you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love." (Ephesians 3:17-18)

As well, perspective lets you have a different view of sin. It helps you re-evaluate the decisions you make and help control your actions better and avoid displeasing God. Overall, perspective will benefit you in many different ways when trying to become closer to God and understand Him better, and is an essential part of a Christian life.

Jesus knew what he was fighting for, which ultimately gave Him strength and tolerance for pain. It's hard to keep walking in the face of uncertainty, especially when we don't have a clue on where we want to end up. We have to choose our paths and see where it'd lead us and once we do, we're set. We're set in a way that our eyes are fixed on that goal. As we walk through that path, we're basically telling and showing God that we want to feel pain, we want to endure that suffering for Him. That being said, we have to keep reminding ourselves what we're fighting for and the times of trouble that is to come. We'll never know what'll hit us, so we have to lay a strong foundation of faith so that we may not be distracted on our main goal. The path gets more narrow as we progress onwards, that's for sure. We have to keep learning from God so that we may be able to apply that knowledge when that time comes. Knowledge is powerrrrrr

What stuck out to me was that we see things in short term and God sees things in long term. Even what may seem long term to us is still short to God.
When we think in long-term, we think of where we would like to be in 5, 10, 20 years. This ideal is something that we have to work towards for the remaining time. However when we think in short term, we tend to think of what we need to do in order to get by for the day or week, without thinking about that goal that we ultimately want to achieve.
So instead of focusing on what's happening next week, make an effort to think about what you will be doing long term and do whatever you need to in order to make that vision come true.

What is perspective? Understanding the various different pathways we get to choose as we live our lives. We make our own decisions and we decide what happens in our lives. God is there to help us make the decision and guide us towards the right path, but in the very end it is us who makes the decision. Therefore it is so very important to understand and realize why we doing what we are doing. Jesus could of just ditched the whole scene and just went away BUT he saw the bigger picture. He knew that what He was about to do would impact not only the upcoming generations but ALL the generations that will be born. Jesus sacrificed himself for all of us. He had the choice and he decided to save us all. He understood and realized what he had to do. This is something we should try to do, understanding and deciding upon that.
that is all guys

A lot of times I tell myself that I'm definitely not going to do something and when the time comes for me to actually not do the thing I cahnge my mind and decide ehh whatever I'll just do it. Perspective keeps me from making stupid decisions based on a moment. What I mean by making stupid decisions based on a moment is when you make a decision based on your initial feelings about the decision- completely disregarding future consequences and benefits, etc. Like procrastination and stuff. I do that a lot :3 If we keep in mind God's plans for us in the long run, maybe it will keep us for doing dumb things.

Changing the way we view and do things will make a great impact on our choices.
Try to see things through God's eyes. Things can appear the exact opposite.
The best example is Jesus on the cross.
No wants to be judged, tortured, then crucified. But we later see that God had a purpose for this. It's the way we understand and which point of view we are looking from.
Tricking yourself into doing things thinking from the wrong perspective will untimately lead to destruction but if we are able to make choices and see options through God's eyes, there will be a good and satisfying outcome.
Changing your perspective also will help you become closer to God through your understanding. Therefore you will ask less questions and take more action. Loving others will come along with it.
Keep growing in your relationship, your ability to comprehend will become better and better.

~Audrey~

I guess ultimately this devotional focused on having a right perspective.

If I had to practically break down the steps, it would entail looking at the situation objectively, then seeing what good rose from it, then focus on that good. The devotional really stressed how the correct perspective is essential within maintaining a profession or responsibility with great consistency. That's where this kicked in for us, I suppose. Assuming we won't quit; serving God is reasonably the most tenacious task to ever be given to anybody. Satisfying God: easy, he already is more than content with what we are as we're born. Serving God is unbelievably painful and hard. To be willing to put it all on the line every single day of your life is frustrating, especially when it's hard to focus on the produce of your effort. I guess that's sort of where the whole "having the right perspective" thing comes in.

When push comes to shove, and we're in the long way run, it's ultimately going to be our mind that determines how much further we go.