Becoming Rembrandt

By Peter Lundell –

With my brother and sister-in-law, I visited the famed Getty Museum. I was struck by two paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn. One was a scene of people beside a river, dated 1632. It was good, but not remarkable, no different from other artists of that period. If Rembrandt’s name weren’t beside it, I never would have known it was his.

The one next to it was a portrait, classic Rembrandt, and exuded his signature style of brush strokes, color choices, expression of light, and overall composition. His emotion and unique mastery of style came through. It was dated 1661.

Aha.

I saw how one of the greatest artists in history was not always distinctive. Surely he had greatness within him, born of natural talent. But his abilities had to be developed through years of practice. Rembrandt didn’t become an extraordinary painter overnight. And he surely didn’t do it without endless days of effort. Twenty-nine years separated those two paintings.

As with Rembrandt, we are all pushed to be like other people. Yet we all have the opportunity to live and work beyond average, to grow over time and become extraordinary, positively influencing others in our own way.

What is your potential? Your gift? Your passion?

What could God do in your life?

If you focus and pursue that to the best of your ability for two or three decades (or however much time you have left), who would you become? What could you accomplish?

I am realizing, somewhat late in life, the power of focus. Could it be that if you focus your efforts as Rembrandt did, you might become more than you dream of? I hope you do. I hope I do too.

Could this not be God’s intent for each of us?

PRAYER: Lord, You have made me for more than being just like everyone else. I commit my life to being and doing what You’ve called me to be and do. No more and no less. Show me how and inspire me to be a unique blessing to many.”

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV).

Self-Destruct Burgers

By Peter Lundell –

Recently a man suffered a heart attack while eating in a restaurant called—and I’m not making this up—“Heart Attack Grill.” No surprise that it can be found in Las Vegas.

The man was eating a “Triple Bypass Burger,” not to be confused with the even larger “Quadruple Bypass Burger.” People actually eat these burgers with three and four huge meat patties each. The slogan of this place is, “Taste Worth Dying For.”

Their front doors have big signs that say, “Caution! This establishment is bad for your health.” And they really bring in the customers. The owner of the place, whom they call “Doc,” wears a doctor’s white coat with a stethoscope around his neck. And the waitresses, whom they call “nurses,” are dressed like sexy nurses. Customers can even wear patients’ hospital gowns while they eat. If you weigh more than 350 pounds, you eat for free.

When the guy had his cardiac arrest, others thought it was a publicity stunt and snapped photos. The man is reportedly recovering, thankfully.

This place gives a new level of meaning to the idea of destroying yourself.

What drives us to self-destruction? Beyond the Heart Attack Grill, there’s smoking, drinking, drugs, or any addiction. Or how about socially accepted habits like chugging soda, eating unhealthy foods full of fat, sugar, and chemicals, then wallowing for hours in front of the T.V. Some self-destructive habits are less noticeable, like overworking and overspending.

If I’ve made you mad, well, sorry.

If we have a grasp of how our bodies are living temples of God’s Holy Spirit, or if we have a vision for a purposeful reason to live, we’ll tend to take good care of our bodies.

What are your self-destructive tendencies?

And what vision or reason to live leads you to care of yourself?

PRAYER: Lord, I am a living, walking temple of Your Spirit. And in You I have a reason to live and worship You and bless others in Your name. Lead me to honor You by taking good care of myself through all the days I live to serve You.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20, NIV).

Every Survivor Dies

By Peter Lundell –

On February 4, the world’s last surviving veteran of World War I died.  Florence Green signed up for the Women’s Royal Air Force 98 years ago at age 17. Ironically, she was afraid of flying. She worked as an Officer’s Mess steward.

Before passing away at age 110, she had been in a nursing home for fewer than three months. Previously, she lived at home with her daughter, who is 90! By every account, Mrs. Green was a wonderful lady.

My Great Uncle Carl also fought in World War I. When I was a boy I visited him and felt as if I were touching history in the flesh. This man who held my hand had been in the trenches and fired a gun. Until he died, his physical presence connected me to an otherwise faded past.

Now there is no one left from that war, or any war before it. Every last survivor eventually died. And every war from now on will have its last survivor die.

I think of the unspeakable horrors World War I unleashed. And now, all of those involved are gone. Every last person. It no longer matters what side they were on in that senseless conflict. Nor does it matter whether they died on the battlefield or years later in a nursing home. They are all in eternity, for better or worse.

How they spend eternity has nothing to do with which uniform they wore, but with the condition of their hearts. So many things seemed important back then, just as so many things seem important right now. But eventually, even the survivors eventually surrender to death.

If we can truly grasp this, what would it do to us and the way we face conflicts, whether as a nation or in our own lives?

“You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
‘”Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?’” (Acts 4:25 (NIV).

PRAYER:

“Lord, You see beyond every world conflict to that which is of your purpose and plan. Open my eyes to see beyond conflicts in my own life to that which is of Your purpose and plan.”

Beauty Unknown and Fleeting

By Peter Lundell –

I recently wrote about a magnificent flower that bloomed on what had been a two-foot-long green stick. I called the flower an orchid. Several kind readers enlightened me that it was in fact an “amaryllis.” Apparently that’s the name of the flower. My wife confirmed it.

Hmmm… I didn’t even know what the flower was, yet I loved it.

There is a lesson in life here: I could appreciate something even though I know nothing about it.

It’s a good thing I don’t have to understand every aspect about something to appreciate it–like good food, computers, my wife, or God.

What are some things in your life that you value even though you don’t understand them?

I’ve studied God a long time, but I’ll never understand him any more than an ant could understand a human. But that’s okay. He loves me anyway.

How many other things in life do you know little about, yet you find beautiful or helpful? The world is full of them.

Back to the amaryllis. As soon as I grew to appreciate their beauty, the flowers withered. They only bloomed a week before they shriveled one by one. “Oh, come on! You need to stay with us longer than that,” I told the flowers. But talking to flowers doesn’t work.

Perhaps one thing that makes beauty valuable to us is that it’s often temporary, like the four seasons, youth, or flowers.

How often have you wished you could hold the sunset a few minutes longer, be young a few years more, feel the overwhelming sense of God’s presence all the time?

My wife just got another green stick; an amaryllis. As I watch it for signs of flowers, she tells me the previous one will bloom again. Maybe next year, maybe sooner. Beauty comes and beauty goes. It’s up to us to cherish it in between.

PRAYER: Lord, the beauty of the world, Your gift to me, surrounds me and amazes me. May my eyes always see and not be blinded by the mad rush of the day. May my heart always receive and not be constricted by worries and cares. When Your beauty comes to me, my hands are open.

“From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth” (Psalm 50:2, NIV).

Flowers from a Stick

By Peter Lundell –

My wife bought an orchid. But it was really just a two-foot-long stalk as thick as my thumb. It sat in a pot on her table, this green stick. It was not beautiful, and to my eyes didn’t show much promise. It only took up space.

After a few weeks, it still sat there gathering dust. For some reason she watered it. Seemed like a waste of water to me.

For two months the green stick sat on her table. Several spikey leaves had sprouted at the base, and a big bulge grew at the top. Probably a tumor.

Then one morning we stopped and stared. The tumor had bloomed into a magnificent flower. Now it’s the glory of the house. Soon, a second flower bloomed. And two more buds have formed.

So many things in life are like that stick. Things we build. Things we work for. Things we attempt. So many people are like that stick too.

Some things–and some people–have a critical mass, a tipping point, where months or years of effort or waiting reach a point when something happens. A project is finished, a conflict is resolved, a child grows up, a skeptic comes to faith. Transformations occur that could not have occurred without that time of waiting.

Are you attempting to do anything that’s like that green stick and hasn’t yet produced its flower? Or is there something inside you that’s like that green stick, quietly developing and will someday come out as something beautiful?

If your flower hasn’t bloomed yet, don’t give up. Keep tending to it. Be patient. Work hard. Hope. Big or small, you’ll get your flower.

PRAYER: Lord, empower me to be patient about _____________. I will persevere and not give up. Whatever it takes, by Your grace, I will bloom.

“Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32 NIV).

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