Bright, Bright,is it too Bright?

It snowed here this week, the first morning of the snow I opened up my blinds to our large picture window, it was so bright with the sun shining on the snow it made me sneeze and my sinus run, I had to tilt the blinds. I said on my Lord! that is really bright!!! You could hardly keep your eyes open. The next morning I was laying in bed, and started thinking of how bright that was, and how bright the Lord is, and how bright He shines in our life, you would think that the brighter Jesus is in your life the better it would be as a witness for Him, but you know I think it is the opposite, when all people see is Jesus, He will be so bright they have to look away, they as I could not keep my eyes open in the brightness of that sun and snow. I pondered that thought and then I realized it is when people see our weakness in us, they see us stumble, they see us fall, they see us hurt, they see us question, they see us get angry, they see us at our worst, then they can see Jesus in us, because they see the brightness of Jesus shinning through all our pain, hurts, habits, hang ups, they see us broken and spilled out but then they see us reach to Jesus for strength and they see a peace that surpasses all understanding, they see us endure and hang on to hope that only God can give, they see us read our Bible, they see us worship, they see us pray, so remember its not how bright you shine, it has been said, you are so heavenly minded your no earthly good, be you, be who you are, let Jesus shine in your weakness and in your strengths, when we are so bright that we blind people with our faith, you have to wonder is that person for real? It is so easy to have a vertical relationship with God, what is hard is to have a horizontal relationship with people, you will never be fulfilled in Christ until you have both, yes you can be safe with just being one on one with God, but the Bible says to love your neighbor as your self, the only reason we do not let people into our life is due to hurt/rejection and mis trust. Do you have a close friend you can tell anything to? If you do not then you may look like that bright shinny snow to other people, and they will stand back from you and close the blind some, what ever is going on in your life you need the horizontal relationships with others, woe is one who falls and does not have a friend to pick him up, woe is one who will not be vulnerable in friendships, woe is one who can not share their weaknesses, I am working on my trust issues with Pastors and Church, I realized over the past few years I have had a intimate relationship with God but have not allowed the horizontal relationship's again in my life, I have kept the few friends I have and have not worked on those friendships very well, but to be whole in Christ and be fulfilled, so I can trust in a church and Pastor, I have to be willing to be vulnerable again in relationships......I have been in a 12 step study group and it has helped me see so many things in my life, why I emotionally eat, why I emotionally spend money, why I react to certain things real strongly, it helped me see some resentments I had, let me see what I expected of others in my life, my own insecurities, but most of all gave me a coping skill in life. As you know I sell real estate and we have a class, Ask For Action, in this class your taught several steps, you can see where you are in your sale and if you are losing your buyer/client you just drop back to the step you need to be in and start from there again, this is how the 12 step program is for me, I was never a drug addict or alcoholic and thought that 12 step was for that, but boy was I wrong, it has renew my walk with the Lord, there is a scripture in Hebrews 5:11 that states, we have much to say and hard to explain since you have become DULL of hearing..............now when I read this and it was being preached by Don Crossland, I knew I was very very DULL in hearing........that will be tomorrows post:0 When we become dull in hearing, we will rationalize the things we do and why we do them, to meet our needs.
Hope this helps you to build your friendships, and for you your relationship with the Lord, but most of all do not be so bright you do not have any close friends:) The basic human need is to be loved...................................by the way I will be leading a 12 step group in April if you would like to attend let me know and I will share the details with you:)