Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

I recently caught up with a friend for Bible study. We were reading through 1 John 4, and I was struck afresh by the verse 18 which reads: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (TNIV)
Isn't that powerful?

It resonated with me because I realised how often my actions are motivated by fear, not love. I don't talk to that person because I think they won't like me. I won't encourage that person because they're doing better than me and obviously don't need it as much as I do. These actions come from living in fear, not love.

I've been a Christian a long time, but in talking with my friend I really felt challenged about this passage. If God is love, and we are to live in God and in His love, then I really need to SEE myself as loved. As a Christian, someone who understands Jesus Christ's death has paid the penalty for my sins, then instead of looking at my sin, my failures, my not-good-enoughs, I need to see God's love. It's like looking in a mirror, what do I see: my hopelessness, or Jesus smiling back at me, the ultimate demonstration of God's love?

The more I focus on God's love - seeing it, recognising it each day, owning it - then the more I can live in His love, and not my fears. The more I focus on God's love then the more encouraging, generous, confident I can be.  The more I focus on God's love then the more like Jesus I will be.
It's such a good reminder, isn't it?

If I don't want to live motivated by fear then all the more do I need to KNOW God's love for me.
If I'm to love in God's love and share that love with others, I need to KNOW His love that nothing can alter.
If I'm a Christian author trying to share God's love with the world, I need to KNOW God's love for it to be authentic in my writing.

This proved especially relevant the next morning, when I received a review for my new novel that was a little less than what I'd hoped for. Now I know reviews are subjective, and wiser heads than mine have said 'don't read reviews'. But the truth is, I thought I had some level of relationship with this person that might warrant warmer praise; their words were nice, but not quite what I'd hoped for. (Come on, haven't we all felt a little disappointed or underwhelmed by faint praise at times?)

Through my shifting emotions I realised (again!) how often I can place my value in other people's opinions. As a natural introvert, and someone who values words as part of their love language, I really have struggled with not letting people's words affect me too deeply, which can thus affect my future dealings with them. The Bible verses I'd read the day before challenge me to not live this way, but to instead filter my emotions and thoughts and to view myself through God's word, where countless times we are reminded of God's love for His people.

God loves me. ("I have loved you with an everlasting love..." Jeremiah 31.3)
God loves me.  ("For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." John 3.16)
God loves me. ("Nothing can separate us from the love of God..." Romans 8.38-39)

Looking in the mirror of God's word, I need to recognise God's truth as truth and own that, and not own the negatives. Through Bible reading, meditation, just mulling over His words, I start to see things differently. Instead of my guilt, I see God's love. Instead of my sin, I see God's love.
Instead of feeling 'less-than' I feel "more than a conqueror." Why? Because of God's enabling love.

This applies to my writing as well. Sure, there are things I can improve on (I get that my work isn't exactly Shakespeare!), but setting my self worth according to other's opinions - good or bad - is a fool's game, and is guaranteed to leave me feeling tortured, and with a giant ulcer or three. Like my husband says: it isn't really real.

What is real is this: I am loved by God.
I am called according to His purposes. (Romans 8.28)
I am more than a conqueror (Romans 8.37)

And so are you!

Over to you: how have you encouraged yourself after a less-than-stellar review of your work? What are your thoughts on reading - or not reading - reviews?

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer’s Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives.

Her Regency novel ‘The Elusive Miss Ellison’ released in February 2017 from Kregel Publications, and is available from Amazon.com.au, Koorong and Book Depository. Her second Regency 'The Captivating Lady Charlotte' releases June 27, and her third, 'The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey releases October 24, both are available for preorder.

                Connect with her:    website    pinterest      facebook      twitter

Abiding … not just visiting

Photo courtesy of Arvind Balaraman/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My twenty-five-plus years in the Corporate world mostly reflected a life where I chased after my goals and fulfilled that sense of achievement that drives many of us men. Typically, my relationship with the Lord was one where I’d grab a few minutes in the Word prior to leaving home and then pray on the drive into the office.

Once I’d parked my car it was like I said to the Lord: “Thanks for that, Lord, I’ll see you back here in ten hours or so.” And off I’d go ready to dive into the rigours of the day rarely giving the Lord a thought. Or if I was feeling particularly stressed I might pop into the bathroom to have a quick chat with the Lord to seek His help.

I’d compartmentalized my life. I allowed (you kidding?) the Lord access to various parts of my life. Yes, I prayed, read the Word (well kinda) and went to church.

Then a few years ago the yearning in my heart for something more kept getting stronger. Until one morning I asked the Lord what He wanted from me.

“Ian, I want you to know Me!”

That almost floored me. I’d been a Christian for almost thirty years, the troughs in my walk definitely outnumbering the peaks. But hey, most of my friends were experiencing much the same.

So I asked the obvious question?

“How do I do that?”

The response was immediate.

“Read my Word.”

So that’s what I started doing. Every day. And I haven’t stopped five years on.

But I’ve learnt there’s more to it than simply reading it. Or listening to it. Or watching it.

And that’s one of the characteristics of what differentiates an abider to a visitor.

Speaking the Word

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)

I love that image of keeping the Word on your lips. To do that you really need to have it constantly in your mouth like a piece of gum.

I’ve found the only way to do this is to actively memorise Scripture and use it in your prayers. 

Only two days ago I received the perfect example of its' power.

I stumbled across Ephesians 4:32:

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (NKJV)

Pretty simple. I’ve always thought I’m pretty good with being kind and tenderhearted but the Lord nudged me to pay more attention to the verse and commit it to memory. So I did.

The message at church that night was on the Beatitude: “Blessed are the merciful …”(Matthew 5:7). I’d recently studied the beatitudes and I figured this one came relatively naturally to me. The pastor emphasized how easy it was for us to find fault in others, to criticize and judge but a merciful heart is one that doesn’t seek to do such. It opened my eyes to another perspective on mercifulness that I hadn’t fully appreciated.

And my newly locked away memory verse kept floating through my mind as I jotted down notes to the sermon.

I went home challenged and within about half an hour of being home found fault in something Fiona did.

Don’t you love that? The first small test you get in obedience you get sprung!

Dorrrr!

We had a big day ahead the next day preparing the house so that our floorboards could be sanded and polished. I apologized to Fi and went to bed repeating, “Be kind …” and asking the Spirit to help me be kind and tenderhearted the following day.

I woke with that verse on my lips and repeated it throughout the day and we had a great day shifting the house around.

May I encourage you to learn a verse this week. Ask the Lord for one, if one doesn’t particularly come to mind.

And those of us who are experienced Scripture memorisers it would be a treat if you could share a little of your system for memorising.

Blessings for a special week ahead.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Sydney, Australia. Ian's first novel, Angelguard, is available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Stay in the pool

Photo courtesy of franky242/freedigitalphotos.net

Momentum is important to we writers. That’s why turning up each day, even if it’s to write a handful of words, is so beneficial. Being a pantser I’m continually amazed how once I sit down at the computer, my characters take over. They really don’t need a lot of encouragement to start creating havoc on the page.

“You’ve just got to stay in the pool longer than the others.”

Michael Phelps, the champion swimmer, spoke those words when asked one of the keys to his success. We see that with so many author friends or those we follow on social media. I struggle at times to keep the green monster of envy at bay when I see those authors who are churning through the words and publishing something new every nine or so months. Frankly, I’m in awe of their discipline and creativity in having so many stories pouring out of them.

This post isn’t so much about the significance of finishing but about staying the course. I know if I don’t pick up my WIP for days or weeks, my characters can tend to go walkabout. My lead character and I have ongoing banter about it. I’ll accuse him of disappearing and he’ll fire back with “well what do you expect when you don’t turn up? I’ve got things to do, places to be, people to see.”

It can take a little while to get back in the groove and the quality of the writing can suffer as a result.

The Christian walk is similar. We often lose the battle with the enemy simply because we’ve not got in the pool enough recently.

I was reminded of this when reading a novella that I started over the weekend. The main character is on a road trip when he picks up a hitchhiker who claims to be Jesus. Along the way at various points when Frank chooses to drop Jesus off and journey on his own, he tangles with a wily biker who Jesus informs him is Satan.

And Frank stumbles for a period of time.

Most of us have “stuff” that we grapple with and have done for a long time. Anxiety and fear are two of mine that will have a crack at me most days. These two mobsters can become big giants if I become lax in spending good time in prayer and reading the Word.

As Jesus says to Frank:

“Well, that’s the thing about the enemy. You never know where or when he’ll attack. He is relentless.”¹

We’re all familiar with Paul’s Armour of God in Ephesians 6. Increasingly I’ve come to realise how easy it is to stumble if I’m not putting that armour on each day. I continue to reap the benefit of meditating on the Word throughout a day. This regularly has a flow on effect of helping my momentum in my writing and other areas of my life.

It’s interesting that in both Joshua 1 and Psalm 1 the key to a fruitful life is on doing just that: meditating on the Word.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8 NKJV)

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2 NKJV)

Has it been a while since you picked up your Bible? And what about that WIP of yours?

Notes: 1. “Son of Man,” Tom Pawlik. Mo Dog Media. 2015.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Observing Lent

By Ian Acheson

Photo courtesy of FreeBibleImages.org

I’d never given Lent much thought. For some reason, I know not why, I’ve thought it an outdated practice that Catholics observed. Typically, it appeared to be reduced to “what are we giving up for Lent?” In my overly judgemental moments I found it strange that apparently non-pious people chose to participate in such a “custom”.

I observed Advent for the first time the Christmas before last and found it a wonderful practice in drawing closer to the Lord each day. I love learning and discovered so much in those 20 or so days. Plus I found my desire for intimacy with the Lord increased.

During the course of January and early February last year, the Lord gave me one of those gentle nudges that got me thinking about Lent. At the same time, I noticed a Lent study by Ruth Haley Barton, whose book, “Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence” I had just finished and so enjoyed. So I promptly ordered that study.

In addition, another Bible teacher I follow, Margaret Feinberg, mentioned she was planning something exciting for Lent. So I was hooked.

 “’And yet even now,’ says the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart …’” (Joel 2:12)

Six weeks to focus more intentionally on the Lord sounded like a good plan.

What is Lent?

Well I didn’t know until I started the journey.

Ruth’s study provided some lovely insight that Lent “derives its structure and themes from Christ’s forty days’ in the wilderness, where He fasted and prayed and faced Satan’s temptations.”¹ Okay, didn’t know that.

I particularly loved Ann Voskamp’s description in a post she wrote at the time:

Ann’s chatting to her brother on the phone answering his question:

“Okay … Lent. It’s the preparing the heart for Easter. Like going with Jesus into the wilderness for forty days, that we come face to ugly face with our enemy. Our sacrificing that we might become more like Christ in His sacrifice.”

So it’s the letting go of our stuff, whatever that may be, so we’ll be even more desperate for Jesus to fill us.

Ha. I like that.

Fast forward to now

Observing Lent last year strengthened me in ways that I’ve only appreciated since it ended. Part of my experience was reading the entire Bible, which I’d never done. It left me with the enduring thought that God is just crazy about us and is never far away. I’ve been able to hold on to that through those discouraging days we all encounter when He seems especially distant.

So I’m doing it again working through a wonderful duo of books by Henri Nouwen, reading through the New Testament, and setting aside time each day just being still with the Lord.

But tell me, what are you doing for Lent?

Wishing everyone a Jesus-filled Easter.

Notes: 1. Lent, A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton, Transforming Resources, (Week 1)

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter