As today begins I have asked Jesus to shed Light on the confusion in my mind regarding relying on His Strength in the midst of one’s battle? I keep counseling with ones (latest was last night) who “want to please Jesus” but they continually step quickly back into their old habits. In a couple of cases, they are young and “want to please Jesus but don’t want to quit a new habit” or behavior. As I asked Jesus what He wanted me to know for today I was given this insight:

ASK:

1st–Do you know Jesus Christ as God Almighty who gave you choice?

2nd–Do you know the Power of asking Jesus and turning to Him as your choice rather than turning to the temptation?

3rd–Are you willing to accept the consequences of Jesus being your Power Source?

As I journaled these I couldn’t help but see their application to me first of all. I have lived a long time knowing these but–believing them and putting them into my daily living? No, I am still working on them in some cases. However, one’s response to these questions become the foundation of believing and then trusting as one steps into each day. A good start for me today.

Over and over again I am amazed at what our Savior and Lord–Jesus Christ does. Living for Him and keeping one’s eyes upon Him is an amazing opportunity. As I began journaling this morning I was writing about yesterday and thanking God for His Light and Wisdom which came forth during the sessions of the day. He reminded me that keeping my eyes on His Son Jesus each and everyday is good. However, I will find difficulties in so doing as well as selfishness from myself at times. Be prepared for this. Nonetheless, obedience to this act will always end with amazement and wonder for God’s Handiwork is always AMAZING as well as always WONDERFUL!

The message of yesterday–daily keeping my eyes on Jesus as my barometer for living only grows stronger as I experience the day. Yesterday, as my day with the most counseling sessions, I found myself reminding me to keep my eyes on Jesus as I heard the messages from each individual. It is so easy to slip into the emotions of the problems and respond from that standpoint rather than from the standpoint of Christ Jesus and His Word. The Light of Jesus penetrates all darkness when we use His Word and deliver it with Christ’s compassion.

As I was getting ready to start my devotions I found I had an email from a new counselee. This person is someone I know well along with their spouse. The water runs deep here and I quickly found myself with eyes on the persons. Then, as I began my devotional time, my devotional read, “Help me make friends with the problems in my life.” Instantly I was brought back to my goal of keeping my eyes on Jesus. When I thank God that I have this problem facing me I can thank Him because my trust in Him knows He will use it to His Honor and Glory. I can pass this promise along to my counselees.

In the last paragraph of the devotion, it reads, “I’ve discovered that the best way to make friends with my troubles is to thank God for them. This counterintuitive act opens my mind to the possibility of blessings emerging from the difficulties….”

Today I am keeping my eyes on Jesus along with thanking and trusting Him.

Keeping my eyes only on Jesus is my “goal” for this year. I am grounded in the truth that a new creation is to do just this. Allowing our eyes to drift to man as our barometer for living “a good life” is opposite of living as a new creation. With this said, I find myself needing to separate being with man and keeping my eyes on Jesus from being with man and shifting my eyes to him.

Starting into this counseling program I am encountering so many issues where man is stuck in a behavior/s, a belief/s, lie/s, and so on. It is so easy to shift my eyes from Jesus to them and share their issues. Many of what I hear are not new to me for I have lived through them. However, Jesus is helping me see my need to recognize and sympathize with the counselee, however, confront the lie/s boldly and with kindness.

Some of the behaviors and lies we live with are ones I find hard to discard because one doesn’t want to live without it or one doesn’t know how to live without it. This is where I have lived until I was faced with living as a new creation and seeing the huge difference. I have found myself, in past, excusing “me” for some behaviors because I’m a victim. Well, truth be told, a new creation is no longer a victim, but a victor! This is the grounding we have in being a new creation with our eyes only on Jesus. Learning to live this way each and every day is my goal. Helping others to do the same is my purpose.

Yesterday, late afternoon, I was able to observe a counseling session that enlightened me. The session was with one of the two “guinea pigs” the skilled counselor I have been observing since last June, was having. The technique she was going to use in the session was new to me and it was addressing a traumatic event in the counselee’s life. The counselee is someone I’ve known for years and I’d asked him to be one of the guinea pigs for our new counseling program. He was glad to do so he said.

In the session I was introduced to what’s called a grounding technique. It can be used when one is going into a stressful or unknown event which seems threatening. In my own counseling of past I would be told to go to “my safe place” when I needed to relax. The grounding seemed different. It is a place where you feel confident and assured that all will be just fine. Getting that mindset in place allows one to not go into that panic mode of thinking/reacting.

I was pleased to experience this, not only for my own use with other counselees, but for me personally. My grounding point takes me to Jesus Christ. When I think I’m entering into an event or stressful time, remembering when Jesus was with me in a different time, but nonetheless, stressful and unknown, I can be assured He is with me now. It calms me and I can go knowing He is not only present, but the outcome will be to His Glory and Honor. I want to put this into practice into my daily living.

Yesterday, after we had gotten home from church, my wife asked me if there were a reason I had been so quiet of late? Lots of quick thoughts flashed through my head but none I wanted to step into so I quickly said, “I don’t think so,” and the topic was dropped. However, the remainder of the day kept the question in the forefront of my mind. This morning as I started my journaling I needed to take this question and put substance to my silence. It was almost 50 years ago when a teacher who knew me well told me that she’d learned that when I grew silent I was working through topic/topics which I needed to address, but not ready yet to talk about them. Kathy’s question brought me back to this reality.

There has been a good deal of change in this past year for me personally. God has been growing me to truly believe I am a new creation. With this comes a great deal of reality I’ve written much about. Coupled with all of this has been the change in purpose for daily living. Leaving education and entering counseling has been huge. I know it’s what God has wanted me to do. I’m still just trying to get my footing established and that hasn’t happened yet. I find myself home more of the time and making this time worthwhile is a question. These things and more are not finished being processed so I find myself “quiet” until I’m ready to talk about them. My natural trait is to talk when I think I’ve found the light of day in them.

This morning I’ve been challenged to now talk with Kathy so I can hear her input in these. All of these changes are impacting her as well as me and my silence isn’t helping her process. So with her wake-up question yesterday, I’ll begin a conversation today that will hopefully help both of us as this new year begins. Kathy has always been a good guide when I’m stuck so today will allow us to deal with it.

It has officially arrived–THE NEW YEAR 2023. Grandpa didn’t see it come into existence last night. I welcomed it this morning. There is so much to be thankful for as I have just finished my devotional time. 2022 has been a year of much change, joy and sadness. My biggest change has been moving out of education after 50 years and entering into an entirely new field called counseling. The joy has been much: our first grandchild getting engaged with a wedding planned for August this year, attending our oldest grandson’s graduation in Florida from Air Force EOC training, attending two grandkid’s high school graduations, and so much more. The sadness has been in the closing out of the year. We have lost my oldest living sister, a niece and a sister-in-law all in a month’s time. They are in heaven we know, but the loss of them here has been much.

In all of this I am learning to address each day as one would as a new creation. My goal for this year will be to only use Jesus Christ as my example for which to live. I’ve always thought I did this until the reality of living last year as a new creation began to show me all the lies I’ve been following as though they were truths. Living in the Light of Jesus provides not only clarity for living but a JOY that transcends sadness and a Light which consumes any and all darkness. Praise be to God our Father! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow, and just like that the year is coming to a close. As I began to journal this morning I was doing more reflecting. I went back into the journal where I had written a year ago today. I wanted to see just what was taking place then and what Jesus had said to me. This process never fails to enlighten me. My biggest epiphany was seeing where God has brought me this year believing I am a new creation. Living life believing this doesn’t replace my humanness. What it does is change my focus from looking at dad and my brother (a little at my mom) and instead, looking at Jesus only. It’s awful to have to admit my level of sinfulness to me was built around whether I looked as bad as I thought dad or my brother looked. All year long I’ve begun to see my sinfulness as Christ sees and forgives. In so doing, my sin is right along side of my dad’s and my brother’s. There is no rank order–they are all sins.

This coming year is starting with me having my eyes open like they have never been before. Good grief, seeing Jesus and me together is so amazing and humbling at the same time. He sees all that I am/have done in my flesh and He loves me and wants to be with me and be my friend and guide. I get to experience this every day of this coming year knowing it’s no longer a hope, but a reality! Wow, I cry with JOY flooding my heart!

Last night was our Celebrate Recovery one. It was to be a testimony for the large group time and we sometimes use a video testimony when a live one isn’t accessible. Instead of an actual testimony, the leader who puts this together used the Skit Guys’ production of God chiseling away on man to make him into more of His Likeness. I can’t remember the name of it or I’d add it here. Boy, did this skit hit home for me. It was a perfect representation of God’s Work this past year as I’ve endeavored to live each day believing I am a new creation. There is so much God has needed to chisel away from my beliefs and to replace those lies with TRUTH about Him, His Son, and His Holy Spirit.

I’ve reflected a great deal about being a new creation of late. As my journey continues I simply have to write this because it is the truth of my journey. I suppose as this new year is about to enter I will continue to be awakened. The more I awaken the more my passion builds to help others believe this truth for themselves. As I was sharing in our small group time last night one young man was all teary as he shared. The reality of God’s chiseling on his life hit him as it had me. We think God will discover the hidden darkness in us if we let Him chisel too deeply. My word, to think God doesn’t already know this darkness and wants to take this darkness and replace it with LIGHT–HIS LIGHT. What a grateful soul I am!

All of a sudden the Christmas vacation ended and the reality of life at home hit full swing. I had scheduled extra counseling appointments into yesterday making it a very full day. However, it was a productive one and it was nice to be into a routine again after the fun of a week with all my family.

As this year is coming to a close and my focus on living the life of a new creation is becoming more real, I’ve discovered so much about myself I don’t like admitting. To see oneself as a new creation, one must see God’s Work. In seeing God’s Work in looking at oneself, one can’t help but see his flesh. Boy, do I see it like I’ve never seen before. I’ve written so many times about comparing myself to dad or to my brother. God, on the other hand, gave us His Son to keep our eyes upon. The amazing reality about keeping my eyes on Jesus is that He opens our eyes to His Holy Spirit. In so doing, I find loving grace and strength to confront my flesh with a new desire to not live submitting to the desires of flesh. Satan wants to bring me back to comparing with dad and my brother, but Jesus stands in this gap so I look to Him and receive strength to live more fully as this new creation.

Growing in the reality of being a new creation is the most beautiful gift I could ever receive. How little I knew what this glorious gift was like!