"What's your reality?"

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I wanted to check something on the back of our refrigerator recently, just to make sure it was working properly. The refrigerator sits back in a cabinet so I carefully wheeled it out just far enough to allow me to get back there.

And boy was I in for a surprise. Maybe you’ve pulled your refrigerator lately or maybe you pull it out regularly and check it, but I don’t. I was amazed at how much dust there was back there. I mean you would think that with no more room around it than there is that no dust could get back there. I was wrong.

I guess we all make certain assumptions about life like I did about the refrigerator. You look at something, figure "Here’s the way it must be," and go on about your business. But in fact, reality is often different.

Life’s not about what you hope or wish or assume is true. Life is about what’s really there in front of you, the reality of the situation. When you’re disappointed, it’s usually because you didn’t check in on reality.

Listen to life today for what God has to say about your ultimate reality and live out of the expectations God helps you set.

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"How bright is your life?"

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Last month, the full moon was so bright that it woke me up about four o’clock in the morning. Normally that doesn’t happen. But first, my wife and I had left the blinds open on the front window. Next, I rolled over on my right side, facing the window which I rarely do. I usually sleep on my stomach. Finally, the moon reached just the right position in the night sky so that its moonbeam was literally at the perfect angle to shine on me.

A rather strange happening, wouldn’t you say? Three different things converged perfectly to wake me up or else I would have missed the brilliant moonlight.

Sometimes life gets bright like that, doesn’t it? But maybe you didn’t open the blinds to your mind so the light can get through. Or, maybe you turn your back on some very bright opportunities because you’re afraid of failing. Or, maybe you don’t see the perfect angle on a situation because you’re not in position to.

Today, ask God to shine the life-light on you as you open and turn yourself so you can listen to life clearly.

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"How's your office?"

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Recently I was straightening up my office. You know how it is, your things get moved around as you work so you put them back where you can find them.

Well, I noticed that there were some things that I really like that I had put up on top of a bookshelf. A wood carving from China a friend brought me. A piece of beautiful pottery. They were up high where I don’t look that often. So I moved them down on one of my desks to see them more often.

Next, I noticed that I had put all of my family’s pictures in my studio. And that was fine, but they had been there for a while and they had become familiar to that space. So I moved them out on a desk, facing me, where I can enjoy them more.

Life is a lot like my office. Some of the things you say you value may be in a place you don’t look very often so you don’t live out of them. Or, some of the relationships you say are vital may be so familiar you stop treasuring them.

Today, move your life around to better reflect God’s priorities as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

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"Who do you answer to?"

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My family and I live on a horse farm. My wife boards horses for owners who don’t have a farm. I enjoy helping her take care of the farm.

A few weeks back, I left our home and headed toward the highway when I noticed that some of our fencing was down. I stopped and looked at it, propped it back up the best I could, and knew I had to come back and fix it pretty quickly. I did, wondering how long it had been that way.

Well the next day, I saw several friends who said something to me like, "Yea, I saw your fence down and started to call you and tell you, but I thought you probably knew it." The fact is I didn’t.

As with fences, so it is with life. Other people see situations in our lives and sometimes before you do. That’s why I find it so important as I listen to life and make a life, not just a living, to have people in my life who check in with me, who hold me accountable for what’s going on and how I’m dealing with it.

Ultimately you and I are accountable to God for our lives. So listen to life today for what God has to say about how you’re living and fix up accordingly.

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"Do you decorate?"

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I really love the Christmas and New Year’s holidays what with all of the decorations. You go to an office building, there are decorations. You go shopping, there are decorations. You drive through a neighborhood, there are many fine examples of exterior illumination displays that would make Griswold envious. Even some truckers hang wreaths on the front of their rigs to celebrate.

But then all the decorations come down and are put back into their out-of-the-way hiding places, destined to gather dust until next season. Everything looks rather plain, doesn’t it? Even barren of anything that resembles a celebration.

And that’s why every year I leave out some decorations. I know it may look rather strange to some people for me to have Santa Claus figurines on a table, or the nativity scene on my desk or an angel hanging in a window or a candle in the window. But I leave a decoration or two out to remind me that I can celebrate God’s love all year long as I listen to life and make a life, not just a living. And you can, too!

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