Eyes on Jesus – Page 13

How To Shine

January 2, 2014 By: Angela Parlin

He came to life, and a great star shone.

The true light that gives light to all men came into the world.

He invited us—Follow Me. Now you are the light of the world, He said. Let your light shine before others.

We’ve all been with people who were trying to let their light shine. Trying to follow Jesus. Trying to be what they thought they were supposed to be. It never works. People who try to be who they’re “supposed to be” often leave us looking for the first exit.

Because this is posing, not shining. They’re putting the cart before the horse, trying to create the end result, and this is no way to shine.

Does your light shine before others, so they see your good works and praise (not you, but) the Lord?

Don’t think big, as if you need a stage in order to shine. Think small—your friends, family, co-workers, students, classmates, teachers, neighbors. Does your light shine?

I know you want to inspire people to fall before God, so He can raise them up to life. You’ve experienced this to some extent, so why wouldn’t you want the same for everyone you know? But don’t make assumptions about what it means to shine His light. Don’t hold back the truth of your life and present the polished-up, Sunday-morning, “closer to Jesus” version instead.

Don’t complicate the shining. It’s as simple as 1—2:

1. Come into the light.

This is the kicker. You cannot shine His light without first coming into the light.

My sin separates me from God, and I cannot do anything to fix it on my own…I need Jesus.

So come—repent—let your spirit be refreshed.

Then shine. Except there’s more.

Continue to come to God because every fiber of our beings need to be made new.

We need total heart & mind makeovers, with God the master designer. He holds the plans, we come often and humbly, and He makes it happen.

Transformation is a process. None of us who live are there yet. But He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. So come into the light, day after day, and let Him transform your heart and mind.

2. Shine!

Here’s how: be you. Fully you but also fully His.

YOU are being made new by Him daily, because you are coming to Him, to His light. You are imperfect but progressing, a mess but growing.

Shine that. Be real, be authentic. Be willing to risk it.

Don’t try to be who you think you’re supposed to be. They know.

Imperfect people crave honesty from other imperfect people. So don’t try to be where you “should be”.

Be where you are, who you are, under God, by His grace—a world away (literally) from perfect, but humbly being transformed by Him every day.

Go ahead now. Shine…

The Story

December 24, 2013 By: Angela Parlin

They were noisier than I would have liked, my kids and their cousins, getting ready for bed. But I gathered them up in a little pink room, told them to hush, and read them a story.

The story began with a young girl from a small town. A humble servant girl. She was engaged to be married, waiting for her life to change, but chosen to first bring promise into the world.

One afternoon, an angel scared her half to death. He told her not to fear, because God Most High favored her. She sat there, stunned. Confused. But the angel continued. She would have a baby, and name him JESUS. The Son of the Most High. He’d reign from David’s throne forever.

His kingdom would never end.

She wondered, how? The angel explained—the power of the Most High would overshadow her. He told her that her old, old cousin Elizabeth was also 6 months pregnant. Because nothing is impossible with God.

At this point in the story, I question myself. I imagine being this girl, this ordinary, unlikely girl. I believe nothing is impossible with God. But in those shoes? Would I believe it then?

She responds, Let it be. Let it be with me as you have said.

She decides—I will be God’s servant.

She carries the Son of God in her womb.

She visits her old, pregnant cousin, who tells her she is abundantly blessed. Why? Because she believed the Lord would do what He said.

So her heart overflows with praise for God, and she sings:

God noticed me, his lowly servant girl. He’s done great things for me. He shows mercy to all who fear Him. He scatters the proud and exalts the humble. He fills the hungry but sends the rich away with empty hands. He fulfills His promises.

God became flesh and showed up small, born in an animal shed, to a poor servant girl. He did it this way, to offer mercy to all. But we can’t read only half the gospel.

God offers His mercy to all, but He shows mercy to those who fear Him. Some, He scatters, and some, He exalts. He blesses those who believe Him.

Like this young girl, my heart now overflows. Because God noticed me, and showed me mercy. Because the Joy who came to the world, came for me. Came for you. So I speak of Jesus, of Joy, hoping you will seek Him and know Him, too. May we all be blessed because we believe the Lord will do what He said!

If I can answer any questions, or you want to discuss this further, email me at angiep@nc.rr.com.

Seeing Jesus

December 11, 2013 By: Angela Parlin

Yesterday, I sat in Barnes & Noble and my insides were crying out to sing. But I couldn’t unleash the voice welling up in me because I shared this cafe with 30 others, most of whom worked quietly on laptops.

Over the loud speakers, they sang about Jesus. Clear as day, in a world where Jesus is increasingly censored out of the public square–a Christmas song preached Jesus in this little corner of the world.

We allow Him in here, at least at Christmas. And even if they’re not listening yet, people are hearing.

I wonder if at some point, someone will complain about the words. Come let us adore HIM, Christ the Lord.

For now, this choir sings Christ, the King, in front of everyone here, and my heart swells, because this is Who He has become to me–the King, my King.This is the stuff that lights one up on the inside!

May all our traditions, our celebrations this year, take us back to Jesus.

Jesus~the light of the world–when we drive around sipping hot cocoa and enjoy great displays of light in our communities.

Jesus~the cornerstone, the rock, our refuge–when we build cute little gingerbread cottages, with frosting and red and green gum drops.

Jesus~the miracle baby born that holy, silent night when angels sang–while we sing Christmas carols in our cars, our homes, our neighborhoods.

Jesus~who brought joy to the world–when we gather in living rooms and laugh our way through favorite Christmas movies.

Jesus~the greatest gift who took upon Himself the sins of all of us–when we exchange gifts and pass out little treasures.

Jesus~our reason to celebrate all through the year–as we gather with friends and family around the holiday to feast and enjoy each other.

May we see threads of Him woven through our stories, our celebrations, and our traditions…Merry Christmas!

Sky-Gazer

October 22, 2013 By: Angela Parlin

Do you feel like we live in the middle of a race? There’s not time for unnecessary pauses. We have to keep moving.

With each new dawn comes an explosion of beauty. But we often miss it, with eyes focused straight ahead. Because we have to.

We have to get to the next appointment. Take the next phone call. Pop into the next meeting. Serve the next meal. Prepare the next assignment. See the next patient. Wash the next load. Drive to the next stop. Do the next thing.

We live under the urgent and miss the most important.

It’s no wonder we fail to see God’s glory in the everyday.

We have goals to accomplish and friends to meet up with and homes to improve and jobs to do. We have shows to watch, “needs” to shop for, technology to get lost in, and new recipes to try. We have lives of our own, and our attention is spread thin. Most of the time, we look around, or ahead, or down.

We rarely look up.

It’s easy, these days, to miss the voices we need to hear, because of the noise of our lives.

Maybe today will be different.

Today could be the day we begin to inhale God’s glory.

Because what we really need in this life is to stop. We need to stop, and look up. We need to get outside, stand under a palette of blue and pink and white and gray, point our eyes heavenward, and stay. We need to consider the heavens.

Do you hear that? From one end of this earth to another….

The heavens declare the glory of God;

The skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Day after day, they pour forth speech;

Night after night, they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

No sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

Their words to the end of the world.

{Psalm 19}

Today, I’m asking you to participate. To become a sky-gazer, if only for a few minutes.

Stand under skies and consider them, under the dome where He thunders and dwells. Behold the glory these silent heavens reveal.

Jesus Is All.

October 3, 2013 By: Angela Parlin

God weaves themes like threads through our lives.

Through a variety of circumstances, He works similar themes in our hearts. Once in a while, I read a book and highlight half of it because I can relate, completely. I read and nod and wear out pens, because I’ve had the very same thoughts and questions and discussions. You too?

Still, it blows me away because of what is happening. God Most High is touching hearts of people and relating Himself to us personally. From Raleigh to Austin to London to Moscow, He’s weaving threads in human hearts, with this commonality–Christ Alone. It’s amazing.

When He gave me my third baby, my only girl, God began working this theme in me:

Jesus Is Everything.

Simple. Straightforward. Jesus is all.

It’s not like I had never considered it before. I knew it. But suddenly, I could feel it. I [more than] knew and believed it. I could feel it’s truth in me. Some people describe this as truth moving from your head to your heart.

It happened partly because I had to face my fear of dying.

After my girl arrived, they found a mass on my thyroid and gave me a “maybe cancer” diagnosis with a 2-week wait, so I could have a good long time to think about things. Then I had a biopsy–with a very long needle in my neck–and a couple more days to wait.

I have a strong aversion to needles. In my neck. I may have tried to put off this biopsy because for one, the needle. And for two, I just had another baby and if I did have cancer, I didn’t think I wanted to know.

Long after it wasn’t cancer, I found my journal from that time. In it I wrote:

I know one thing for sure: the key to life, to everything really, is Jesus.

Nicole Witt and Christa Wells have a soul-stirring, spirit-waking album out called More Than Rubies. I have listened to it enough to have many of their songs memorized. And I highly recommend you run to Itunes and download all of them. 🙂

While belting out the words to Live and Breathe for the eighty-third time, approximately, I finally realized the first line of the song is also the name of my blog ~ Waves of Grace. I’m quick like that.

I wanted to share it with you because it’s a prayer, that Jesus BE everything we live and breathe. Maybe He’s already been working this theme in your life. Maybe He’s beginning it now…

“The waves of grace wash over me ~ And I feel how thirsty I am ~ The truth runs deep to the heart of me ~ And I see how shallow I’ve been. Who can satisfy this cavern inside me? Jesus, come and be all I want and all I need, Be my portion and my strength forever…” –Live and Breathe (More Than Rubies album)

Listen here: Live and Breathe (Click link and press Play.)

May our spirits come alive to Him {repeatedly}.

« Previous Page

How To Shine

Like this:

The Story

Like this:

Seeing Jesus

Like this:

Sky-Gazer

Like this:

Jesus Is All.

Like this:

Compassion International

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Compassion International