The traps of Perspectives

Perspectives are everywhere. We all have our own and we even catch a few from others as we go through life. We tend to give the whole perspective thing more credibility than the truth more often than not. I wonder why this is? Do we do this in our study of God's Word? What about in our application of the Word of God?

At the heart of this issue is the little "what we know" compared to the BIG "what we think we know but actually don't"! I am always amazed at what I learn from studying God's Word daily. Teaching or preaching through a book for the second or third time always bring new found truth that was not gleaned before. How little is our understanding and great is what we need to grasp.  The same is true in all of life.  Our perspectives can give us insight while also rob us of much that we end up missing because of them.

Here is a quote that I think really highlights this thought:  "Perceptions can be fickle, because they are formed many times by what you think you know and brings what looks like deception because of what you may not know."

When we apply this to our daily lives it should cause us to ask a strange question.  How much of what we do is done based upon what we perceive instead of what we know?  When we think of relationships.  When we look at our decisions.  As we review the cause and effect of actions taken or not taken.  Is it our perspective directing us or is it truth?  Do we know if our perspective is right?

And then add this thought to our spiritual lives.  If we function spiritually off of our perception we may indeed miss God's perspective and thus miss His Will.  Could it be that this principle explains the journey of American Christianity and the downfall of such?  We perceived we were doing fine by our perspectives but...!  And does not the Bible remind us that Gods ways are not ours?


How incredible would it be if today we could simply seek Gods perspective without our own interfering.  It might be surprising to see how the traps of perspectives have been robbing us in many areas of our lives.

Encouragers needed and commanded!

I am posting a link to a post written by Perry Noble that highlights a few things each one of us really need to think about concerning our role in the lives of others.  Critics are everywhere.  Not much of life is free from those who love to "put down" or share their perceived insight in yours or my life.  How do we handle these situations and what are we to do when they occur?

Our Sunday night Table Talk sessions have been focusing on this.  This past Sunday, my wife Heidi also led in a great discussion concerning encouragement and our command to do so.  She had no idea that I had been covering that topic and hit a home run in wrapping it up so well.

This article here is another added extra in the much needed understanding of our command to encourage one another and not tear down.

You can read it here!

And for those wondering - I do not agree with all that Perry Noble does or thinks.  He just got this one right!

A post that needs to be shared

John MacArthur has written a excellent post for all of today.  Though the goal of his post will be clear when you see the title, the content within actually applies deep and wide into many issues facing churches today.  I encourage all to read it here.