River Reflections and Life

Hello everyone and welcome to September! We are going into one of my favorite seasons…Fall. I love the colors and cooler weather and the coziness of warm winter evenings around a fire. So in celebration of that, hubby and I went for a drive to a different area than we had explored before in and around our town. I got some wonderful pictures which I will share some here. But I also was impressed with a thought about that drive, and so I will share that with you today.

If you look at the lead photo, you may find it just draws you in…why? It might be the sunset colors, or the turn of the river, or the mountains, or..the gorgeous reflection of the sunset on the glassy river. And THAT is what I want to share with you because I believe I was given this lesson after taking this photo.

We have heard many times the idea of Christ living in us, and we are to reflect His presence in our lives. Just as in this photo above, where the sunset sky is reflected off the glassy water of the river, we are to reflect Christ in us out to others. Not in a showy fashion, but in authentic love and care of the other person(s). How we act, the words we use, talking about ourselves rather than genuine listening is not reflecting God’s love. But instead, we want to show a gracious attitude in all the ways, so that, we might be a reflection of Christ to others.

That really hit me. God is faithful to give us those nudges and it sure made me ask myself, “JoAnn, how are you reflecting Jesus to others?” Or better yet, AM I reflecting Him to others through my lifestyle and how I live? We can get so tied up with what is going on around us, that we can let a lot of things slide, thinking it doesn’t matter. However, it does matter, and makes it hard for others to decide who you are and WHOSE you are.

It might be a bad word, being selfish, controlling, how we present ourselves in our attire, being all about ourselves, we say one thing and live another, and many more examples we all know. How do you present yourself on social media? Do you live a life of humbleness and transparency, or is it just what you want others to perceive your life is like? When will we come to realize that we need honesty with ourselves before God and others, that needs to happen before others if we want to be an inspiration for others to want to live for Christ.

I am so glad this lesson came to me with this picture…and often He does give a lesson with many of the pictures I take. That is one reason I keep seeking my photos, because I learn by looking through a different lens. So… my photos in this post deal with reflections. I didn’t realize it until I was looking at them on the way home. I think God didn’t want me to miss the lesson. What do you think??

Here is the other part of the lesson. The water has to be calm and clear for the reflection to be visible. So I must be clear in my thinking, attitude and living, or order to exhibit the kind of outpouring of myself that God would want me to share. If I allow the big waves of rolling water over rocks to be my focus, then I am probably more focused on myself. But when I am calm and clear in my mind and heart, I am more likely to reflect what is closer to His teaching…reflecting His image to others. I will be more inspired to reflect well and hopefully they will see into the clear depth of my reflection to want that for themselves. In other words, work on myself, so that, I can be a reflection of His love to those around me. If I am consistent, THEN I am a River of Reflection myself.

Be a good reflection of Him. Keep perfecting your faith. Ask Him to assist you in being His reflection. I hope this mini lesson resonates with you as much as it did for me.

Until next time…

~JoAnn