Looking Beyond

Jesus invites us to abide in Him - He wants us to come into a relationship with Him and to seek Him day by day. The Psalms provide some snapshots of someone who is expressing his desire for the Lord, and in the 84th Psalm, we can read these words:
2 My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young-- Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You...

And, later in the Psalm, in verse 10, we find this;
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

That is a picture of someone who desires the presence of the Lord above all else - and you know, we have been granted access to come before the Lord: to worship Him, to communicate with Him (not merely to Him), and to enjoy sweet fellowship with our Savior.  When we regard Christ as the Lord of our lives, we can experience ordered lives and possess the satisfaction that comes because we are at peace with ourselves and with God.

+++++

We can be focused in on loving our Savior and serving Him with our whole heart. When we desire Him in that way, we can find that our priorities are centered around pleasing Him. Psalm 73 states:
25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

On yesterday's Meeting House, Bob Hasson, who has a long track record in the corporate world, discussed where we can find our passion and our view of work.  I contend we should ultimately be satisfied in Christ, and we should view our work as an opportunity to glorify the Lord.  

But, we can discover our passion and God's purpose for us in other ways.  That is demonstrated by a couple who are both actors, but who find their ultimate satisfaction in their life in God and with one another.

Alexa Vega, of Spy Kids fame, and Carlos Pena of Big Time Rush are married and became Carlos and Alexa PenaVega.  I met them several years ago when I interviewed them about their streaming series, The Power Couple.  A recent Movieguide article spotlighted the couple's move from Hollywood to Hawaii and how there was a definite move away from the entertainment industry in 2017.

Alexa, in a Fox News interview, said: “It started right after we got married...We were just so excited about marriage and the idea of possibly sharing our testimony with others. It felt like everything out in the media depicted marriage as lame. It took the holiness out of marriage. We felt like marriage was this dying thing, and we wanted to reignite it for people and get them excited about it again."

She described the spiritual state of their marriage in those early years:

“We were both trying to figure out what faith meant to each of us individually in the season that we met,” she said. “I was ready to dive in with God. I grew up Christian, but I didn’t quite understand what that meant. I didn’t know what it truly meant to walk with God and represent him here on Earth.”

“At the same time, Carlos was discovering who Jesus was in his life,” she said. “So we both met each other at this foundation-building point in our lives where we were both really hungry to grow in our faith. And that’s how our relationship started. And it was amazing because our entire relationship was based on bible studies, church and our faith.”

The Movieguide article stated, "...the couple found that they struggled to reconcile their faith with their surroundings while working in Hollywood."  And Alexa admits once she embraced Christianity, she wanted more - she related: “I’d never really decided to dive in truly until I was older. I realized there was so much more to Christianity and I craved more for it. But I didn’t have anybody in my life at the time who could guide me… As far as the industry goes, you could see the types of projects I took before, in comparison to the projects I take now."

Carlos and Alexa have written a book called, What if Love is the Point? Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World.  Alexa notes: “Part of the reason we wrote this book is that we wanted to focus on our relationship – not just marriage, but our relationship with God. That doesn’t mean the road is going to be easy. But the road will be peaceful. Love is a healer in all things."

They sat down with UInterview.com, and Carlos talked about the importance of determination in the Christian life:

“It takes work,” Carlos agreed. “Most people are like, ‘Oh, I’m a Christian now! Life’s going to be easy.’ No, life’s harder. One word that we talk about in the book is consistency. I really feel that people, especially people who are believers, they really struggle with consistency. I could talk to you right now and say all this, but then I’m gonna go on social media and then in two days you’re gonna see something else and be like, ‘That doesn’t make sense! Is that the guy I just talked to? No way!’ You see so much of that and I feel like Lex and I try really hard to be consistent. What you see is what you get. I’m gonna talk to you the same way I’m gonna talk to they guy down the street who I just met. It does take work. It takes work to keep our family together...

So, what can we consider from the inspiration of the Penavegas?  Well, first of all, we can be motivated to set the right priorities.  And, our list of priorities should be headed by devotion to Christ.  That would be followed by a love and loyalty to our spouses and family, when applicable.  We can be devoted to the Scriptures that encourage us to put others first.  That's not to say we don't take time for ourselves, because we need to be growing in the Lord.

We can also make sure that we are gravitating toward what glorifies God. The world is full of offers and temptations, and there are things that we may encounter that may seem right to us.  We have to make sure that our focus is on pleasing our Lord. 

Certainly we are living in the present.  God has given us this day as a wonderful gift, full of opportunities to honor Him.  But, we can also live for the future.  Our ultimate fulfillment comes not not in this world, but in the world to come.  And, we are called to live, as it's been said, in light of eternity.  One thing we cannot do is live in the past - it won't change.  But, we can change how we view our past by not being held in bondage by it.