"Picture Perfect" -Too

 "Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the King is held in the galleries." (S.O.S. 7:5)

  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT)

  You have heard of a puff-piece, well it is usually meant to oppose or downplay an another viewpoint; a slightly exaggerated version of a person or thing, meant to soften the blow of the reality of what is really going on, of who, or what, or how, any story might actually be. So, there is this thought that I was gently reminded of last night, which involved my imagination of what my Heavenly Father might be doing and saying during one of my acts of naughtiness, that is, if I might even happen to think of Him during such a time. In my home growing up, my mother might have barked out my first and middle name, saying, "Richard Alan! What do you think you are doing!" 

  There is something of a mystery to this, "huge crowd of witnesses," as some might say that we are being watched by them, not that we observe their lives. Scary thought, if you are ever wondering if anyone is able to actually observe your actions in the dark. But here is the thing we might not totally understand: Nothing is hidden from God, not even our thoughts; not even the dreams we have in our heads at night! I know, you can go ahead and say it, "Merry Christmas!" 

  To be perfectly clear, there is nothing that I can do, not even the things I don't think that I can do, that my Heavenly Father is not aware of me doing: He knows every single thing about me! Do you see the picture this is painting yet? Yes, the hair is purple! Better yet, it is a red-purple, which just so happens to be the color of blood when it is exposed to the atmosphere; a covering, if you will, for this bird-brained head; the one that does the things it configures and plans to do, with whatever might be at my disposal. 

  You might already know this, but just incase you don't: There is a reason that Jesus had to come here as a baby born upon this earth; because every king must be born into the position by which they rule; it is the position that they inherit by right of birth. Therefore, make sure the picture you have of Him, has a gleam in His eye, and a giant smile upon His face; because this King is THE BOSS...

"When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died -from the time of Adam to the time of Moses -even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of that man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but God's free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:12-17) NLT