Jesus life outwards, starts with us.

 I was listening to VoicePlays version of ”I´m looking at the man in the mirror = Jag tittar på mannen i spegeln”. Glen Ballard / Siedah Garrett wrote is and Michael Jackson preformed it. Here are the lyrics;

I'm gonna make a change. For once in my life. It's gonna feel real good. Gonna make a difference. Gonna make it right. As I, turn up the collar on. My favorite winter coat. This wind is blowing my mind. I see the kids in the streets. With not enough to eat. Who am I to be blind? Pretending not to see thier need.

A summer disregard, a broken bottle top. And a one man soul. They follow each other on the wind ya' know. 'Cause they got nowhere to go. That's why I want you to know

ref. I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better place. Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

I've been a victim of a selfish kind of love. It's time that I realize. That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan. Could it be really me, pretending that they're not alone?

A willow deeply scarred, somebody's broken heart. And a washed-out dream. They follow the pattern of the wind ya' see. 'Cause they got no place to be. That's why I'm starting with me

The lyrics really speaks for itself. We often have our eyes turned to ourselves and forget that there are those who might even have it worse than us. How often do we look at ourselves in the mirror and think about what changes we, you and I, can make ourselves, and how it would affect things around us?

Look at the man/ woman in the mirror, get him/ her to change his her way. No message can be clearer, you want to make the world a better place, look at yourself and make a change.

If I´m to look at it from a Christian perspective, the scripture tells us that no one is righteous, not one, and our hearts are incurably evil by nature. For us to actually change, we must really have our gaze outward, more than inward. I am not saying that it is impossible for a non-Christian to change the world or start with him/ herself, rather the case is, that for us who are saved it should come natural.

If those who are not Christians can understand this, then we should do it even more so, since we should have died away from ourselves and risen to a new life in Christ.

We can use the golden rule, Do to others as you yourself want to be treated. Look at yourself in the mirror, are you who you should be in Christ? Would we really stand a deep scrutiny from others regarding our Christian life?

If non-cristians can see that we need to care about each other. Then how important isn´t it for us as Christians to really do the same. This lyrics grabs me, just like others, where the focus is on others than myself. Looking at others, not myself. There are always those who are worse off than I am. It does not necessarily mean that I myself have not gone through tough things, it just means, I´m not alone.

For both cristians and non-christians it can many times be, that we are so self-absorbed with how tough and hard our own lives are or have been. We therefore forget others who have right now/ or used to have it just as hard or even worse. Selfpity has become the focus. But if we open our eyes to someone else's worries, our own problems also get diminished.

Uno Svenningsson was in a little bit on the same track in his song; Under the surface.

1. Under the surface you´ll find large and small. Beneath the surface there´s laughter and crying. There is a lot going on there that we cannot understand. But we always find the answers there at the bottom of ourselves, beneath the surface

ref. I know, I know, I know you're there. I know, I know, I know you're there. I know, I know, I know you're there. I know, I know, I know

2. People laugh and toast. But soon the end comes with chaos. Someone kicks and hits a poor man, who hasn´t got chance at all. I see that no one seems to care and neither do I. The fear is too great and strong to do anything at all.

bridge. Beneath the surface, I'm ashamed of myself. Beneath the surface, the image burns me.

3. I think about it often, if that had been my own brother. Then I too, would have turned into a monster without words. When I see all the evil that we humans have unleashed, the meaningless suffering, then I have a hard time to understandi that we have all been children and helpless at some point. Loved without boundaries, loved without compulsion.

Bridge. Below the surface all of us are all small, below the surface a good soul can perish.

For far too many, this is the norm, we close our eyes to those outside of ourself, do not want to see, do not want to hear. But imagine if we instead, look at ourselves, and start with ourselves. Be the one who does the opposite, the one who tries to change something. Not everyone can do everything, but if many do something small, it can be a really big change that happens.

We as Christians, in particular, should have that view. Looking beyond ourselves. Where we help others instead of digging into the well of our own problems.

This is something we see in the Bible as well. Think on Joseph - sold into slavery - end up in prison - Pharaoh's right hand. He could have become very bitter and introvert. Failed, to with God's help - help others interpret their dreams, - worrying about his own problems. Paul likewise with everything he went through. But they continued their path despite the problems they constantly found themselves in.

Problem is one thing that can make us introwort, another one today is the whole social media stuff, such as"selfies. I must admit that I am happy not to belong to this young generation. I´m clearly not a selfie person, thinks all social media is a bit awkward and don´t have time for them either.

In our time, it is not easy to live a completely divine life with everything around us that wants to make us like everyone else. Enduring has never been easy, but if we are to endure today, the difference will be greater than 100 years ago. Yet that is exactly what we are expected to do.

A different people, separated from all others. That was what the Jews were called to be, and this were supposed to make everyone else jealous of their God. It has now been the task of the Christians for a while, and we really haven´t done a better job than the Jews did, sadly enough. We too have allowed ourselves to be influenced by everything around us.

But we need to stand out and in order to do so, our love needs to be directed towards others more than to ourselves. After all, standing out usually means going against the flow. It´s also how we can show that we are different, that we have something that non-Christians lack. We should be the ones to go before, not joining in.

How often are our actions and behaviour the exact opposite of this word? I'll do it soon, I'll hear from you later. Often this does not happen later at all. I myself have been with Christians who told me, I can do it in a while, but even more so; I call later, and this becomes nothing at all.

I am absolutely certain that there is no deliberate evil meant behind it, but in the worst case, what we do can not cause the damage to have already taken place. Here we have a big pitfall, for us as Christians in particular, because, what we say and don´t do, are done as us being representatives of Jesus and God. What we do is associated with who we say we serve.

Are we resembling Jesus here, or? Would Jesus say I´ll do it later and not do it at all? This brings me to the story of the person who gets a late visit and comes to his friend and asks for help.

“Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. Luk 11:5-8

Vi går före, vi gör det som Jesus gjorde. Vi är så i harmoni med hurdan Gud är, så att inte släppa det vi har för händerna och hjälpa till, finns inte i oss. Ja, jag vet vi har arbeten som vi måste sköta, men kanske kan vi på något sätt även i de fallen att det är det vi jäktar mot, ta några få minuter, och mest av allt, se till att höra av oss senare.

I want to turn the tables here so to speak, we should not give in because the person is intrusive, on the contrary, do it at once, just because the person asks us to. This for me is having the mindset of Christ.

We go before, we do what Jesus did. We are so in harmony with what God is like, so letting go of what we have at hand and not helping is not in us. Yes, I know we have jobs that we have to take care of, but maybe we can somehow even in those cases find something small to do and not just ruch away,, take a few minutes, and most of all, make sure if we promise to call back, do so later.
Which brings up another song in my head, an English song that has come back to me often, written by Steven Curtis Capman.

Let us pray !
1 Thess 5:17, Kol 4: 2, Ef 6:18, Heb 4:16, Rom 12:12

1. I hear you say your heart is aching. You've got trouble in the making. And you ask if I'll be praying for you please. And in keeping with convention. I'll say yes with good intentions. To pray later making mention of your needs. But since we have this moment here at heaven's door. We should start knocking now, what are we waiting for?

Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way. Every moment of the day, it is the right time. For the Father above, He is listening with love. And He wants to answer us, so let us pray

2. So when we feel the Spirit moving. Prompting, prodding and behooving. There is no time to be losing, let us pray. Let the Father hear us saying. What we need to be conveying. Even while this song is playing, let us pray. And just because we say the word, "Amen". It doesn't mean this conversation needs to end

Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way. Every moment of the day, it is the right time. Let us pray without end and when we finish start again. Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray

Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence. As our prayers draw us near. To the One who knows our needs. Before we even call His name

The more I try to explain that what´s in me, the harder it becomes to find a conclusion. Let us look outward at others, and reduce our own need to be the center of attention. Is not that the way the world can really see that we are different?

Greetings of peace Ingemo