FILTERS week 46

Beyond the Mirror
week 46

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

(Hebrews 4:12)

REFLECTION

I studied the angle of the daisy,

Noting droplets that had pooled on its petals.

Its rain washed color so vibrant, it almost looked fake.

I steadied the phone and lined up a perfect shot.

With a smile, I headed inside to edit and upload.

Coffee and phone in hand,

I sat oohing and awing over Instagram filters,

Showing John first one then another.

I smiled when we were in agreement:

The natural, unfiltered, unaltered shot was our favorite.

It was the one to share with my Facebook family.

Who needs filters anyway?

IMAGINE THIS

Other than the Bible shot, this cover is a collage of the same photo. One shot, lots of filters. I took a brilliant orange daisy and made it appear white, yellow, red, even variegated, simply by playing around with filters. It's amazing right, what we can do with filters nowadays?

Still, once in awhile, it's the original shot that speaks to our hearts. Those captured that do not require a lot of thought. Simple shots there for the taking. Those that are right and we just know it. Perfection. No need for filters. If only real life were that easy...

But it isn’t, is it?

Color bleeds into the black and white, gets bordered by grey, and becomes very confusing. So we start applying filters. Filters to help us understand, hoping they’ll make life easier, less complicated if you will.

Filters of social norms: those that justify our actions by the actions of others. Filters that sometimes make us lose sight of biblical truths.

Filters of personal wants: those that make WWJD nothing more than letters on a bracelet...not a filter for real life.

Filters of acceptance: filters that, slowly, filter out our Christian worldview...one acceptable sin, one normalized worldly behavior, at a time.

And we get lost in the edits.

What we once thought would make life less complicated becomes a stumbling block for our Christian walk...a walk now filtered through the lens of compromise. And just like the daisy shot, the original version of our true self becomes hard to pick out.

Does this have to be true for today’s Christian? Are there Godly filters for us to use that would showcase Jesus to the world around us? Well, maybe just a few...for starters, let's look at Galatians 5:22:

Listed there are filters of: unconditional love; Joy; Peace; Patience; Kindheartedness; Goodness; Faithfulness; Gentleness; Self-control. Paul calls these fruits of the Holy Spirit. But when we use them as filters, we see the world through Christlike eyes. These fruits, filters if you will, have a direct impact on our spiritual maturity and on our relationship with Jesus Christ...and the world around us.

What this means for us is that we get to be an active participant in our real life.

We get to choose “The Filter of the Day.”  Just as we are the only person who can write our life story, no one else can develop our relationship with Jesus, filter our real life, or develop our spiritual fruit. These jobs, responsibilities really, are ours alone.

Even in real life situations, we can adjust the temperature, determine the saturation, enhance the highlights, or apply a crop to the scenes we find ourselves in. In other words, we can filter out some, enhance some, add overlays to the bland, or embellish the good to make it better. Each of us are in charge of developing our life’s story; and for the filters we place upon it.

What filter will you choose today?

A DEEPER LOOK

Daily scripture readings

Sunday	Produces Light	Jeremiah 23:29 Matthew 5:16
Monday	Sharpens Focus	Luke 10:41-42 Isaiah 41:10
Tuesday	Shows us what to crop	2 Timothy 4:2 Philippians 3:12-14
Wednesday	Enhances the mundane	Ecclesiastes 8:15 Matthew 11:28
Thursday	Reveals & corrects flaws	Jeremiah 18:1-6 2 Timothy 3:16
Friday	Intensifies Light	Matthew 5:14 2 Corinthians 4:6
Saturday	Enhances quality	Psalm 119:9 Colossians 3:12-14

MY THOUGHTS

Journal your thoughts here - consider ways you use the Bible as a filter in real life

Be blessed today y'all - In Christ with love and compassion - Coach Kelly

#BeyondTheMirror #YourLifeCoachingWV