Jim fields' Weblog

January 30, 2012

Jim — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:49:38 +0000

This morning is the first time in a long time that the sun shining through the window interrupted my morning study by shining in my eyes. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were to be the most frustrating thing of the week, being interrupted by sunshine?

I’m going to begin this week with the attitude that God has something beautiful to reveal and he wants me to notice it… Ouch! Even as I wrote that last sentence it dawned on me that each day God has something beautiful to reveal to us and he wants us to notice it.

I will identify the things that stop me from noticing God’s beauty and try to eliminate or at least minimize their control of my life.

Peace and beauty

Jim

January 29, 2012

Jim — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:39:20 +0000

Living the simple amid the difficult is something that can be mastered, but it takes courage, stamina, and faith that the simple message of Jesus is true. Courage and stamina carry us a long way but the faith to believe Jesus’ simple message puts the icing on the cake – it allows us to have an outward focus and inward peace.

The simple message of Jesus is summed up by Jesus in a Simple Melody… John 15:12, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” And God has loved us through forgiveness, mercy, beauty, compassion, kindness, patience, and peace. It is our charge to go and do likewise.

Peace

Jim

January 28, 2012

Jim — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:12:06 +0000

Went to look at the river today and found out that TVA had just dropped the flow rate to something wadable. Since I had my fishing stuff along I got to fish for an hour or so.

I didn’t even get a bite…but it was fun.

All in all…it was a simple day.

Jim

January 27, 2012

Jim — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:26:27 +0000

I said Sunday morning that sometimes I think I think too much. That can be good or bad, I suppose, depending on what we’re thinking about. If we’re thinking about fishing – which I have been doing for the last few days – it’s not so bad. But if we’re thinking about how to order every single moment of our life, then, maybe we’re thinking too much.

I read a good quote today. It says:

“Don’t think too much, you’ll create a problem that wasn’t there in the first place.”

A friend posted that on facebook and I found it more serious than one would think. Sometimes we create problems trying to think through something that would better be left in God’s hands. I’ve been guilty of that more times than I can count. I’m learning though, and getting better at listening for Jesus throughout each day.

Peace

Jim

January 26, 2012

Jim — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:55:34 +0000

In music, the simple melody often expresses feelings much better than complicated ones. If the music is too busy it can cover up a simple melody, it can distract from the beauty. The problem is that a lot of folks ignore the simple chalking it off as immature or untrained, maybe even uninformed. Even the artists’ often believe they must use all of their knowledge in the same song. The result is that the listener often becomes confused.

In the Christian life, the simple expression of love works the same way. If life is too busy the simple message of love is covered up by all of the noise of busy-ness which distracts from the beauty. And people who look on often ignore the message being lived because the message and the life don’t match. The result is that the one looking on becomes confused and looks other places for peace.

The challenge for us who want to follow Jesus is to find a way to express what we know in simple terms. We don’t do that because we don’t understand complicated thoughts and principles, actually it’s the opposite. Because we understand those complicated things, because we’ve lived those complicated things, we are much better at presenting them in simple ways.

In music, the simple melody has more clout once the performer has proved him or herself in the difficult. Life works the same way. The simple message of God’s love seems to have more clout once the one offering the message has proved him or herself in the difficult.

Think about that…

Jim