An Eternal Perspective

Read the articles in "Still Anxious" to retrain your brain to think faith first!

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When you look at the situations in world and those that directly impact your life through the eyes of faith, Word of God, you'll process your thoughts using an Eternal perspective; believing that eventually all things will work for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:11, 14, 28, 35-37, 1 John 5:3, Matthew 6:33). Having an Eternal perspective cuts through the common emotions that are associated with the limits of humanity and focuses instead on what God can do. 1 John 4:4-5 captures the mindset of a productive Christian, ". . . You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world". The Apostle Peter also encourages Christians that we can attain the more like Christ when we add to our faith" the things that will curb our impulses to seek after the pleasures of the world (2 Peter 1:3-9, 2:10-12).

• Read the articles in the tab "Still Anxious" to see that using an eternal perspective is the key to walking out your Christian faith despite cultural norms. 

 

Facing the vulnerability you may feel as you act within the boundaries of God's love and truth in public, insulates you from the desires of your flesh and keeps you walking on the path leading to towards everlasting life; E   (Isaiah 35:8, Ephesians 4:14-15, 1 John 4:6, 4:12-16, Proverbs 14:11, 21:26, Appendix 2N). Choosing to look at life using an Eternal perspective takes a conscious effort to focus your thoughts on God, not giving in to the distractions of living in a materialistic world that generates sinful desires (James 1:14, Luke 12:15, Hebrews 13:5, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Mark 8:36, 

1 Timothy 6:6). 

• See "Understanding Personality ..." to learn more about social reputation.

 

It takes an intentional choice to frame your thinking to default back to the character of God when you are tempted to give in to fear and hopelessness (Colossians 1:27). Once you decide to set God as the primary source for your decision-making, you must use intentional thinking so that this new way of thinking becomes your new way of acting (1 Thessalonians 2:12). This, like any new behavioral skill, takes time to become an expedient habit (read more at Appendix 1F). As a Christian, when you decide to incorporate your faith into your perspective (because you choose to remember God and focus on your eternal destiny), you are confident that no matter what happens in a sinful world, because of His character, God will use His supernatural power for your good and His glory, in His perfect timing (Isaiah 4:2-6, Revelation 19:1, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:5-7, Philippians 4:19-20, Romans 4:20, read "... Zeal for His Own Glory"). This new way of acting, like any new behavioral skill, may feel awkward at first, but with time, patience and practice it will become a habit (read more at Appendix 1F). It's doing what you think with joy (from the expression of your heart) that brings the peace of Christian cognitive consistency. 

 

An eternal perspective is one that you choose to “put on” (Ephesians 6:6, 4:11-32). It is a conscious decision to honor God above yourself by avoiding sin. (See Appendix 1I for more.) It's when you freely decide to become a "bondservants of Christ” (to use self-control and patience) so you do “the will of God from the heart” (made possible by the Spirit of God that resides in all Christians,  John 3:7-8, 21, Galatians 5:22-23).​​ 

Below are some examples where you can see that you need a perception shift to make sense of Biblical truth. 

1. Consider the word trust. Think of the word trust from your perspective and then compare it to God’s meaning. A change in your perspective will enable you to experience the freedom that is found when you follow Christ (Psalm 91:1-2, 1 John 4:18). To experience a full life as referred to by Jesus, you need to participate in the process while depending on God for the results (1 Corinthians 3:6, John 10:10). Other people can see your faith by what you say and do and they evaluate the strength of your faith by how well what you say and do measures up against God’s principles. Now, go back and think about the word “trust”. When looked at from God’s perspective, exemplified in both word (the Bible) and deed (Jesus Christ), you can see how it’s a personal relationship with God that motivates a change in perception. (One reason why God is referred to as a Father figure.) A caring father establishes rules for healthy living but it’s not a mandatory requirement in order for you to secure your fathers love. It’s your beliefs that need to change to match God’s reality. You already have your father’s love, but now He wants you to love him back, freely.  ​

2. To see perspective at work in the Bible, read all 3 accounts of what Jesus said when he spoke about the parable of the seed using an analogy to farming (Matthew 13:1-23, Luke 8:4-15, Mark 4:1-20).

   • In the description of the four types of soil, you can see that if not do not change your view to God’s, you will not attain the freedom you experience from being in fourth group of the parable, which fuels the motivation to persist through your work until you see the results, which Jesus says is 30, 60, or 100 time what you worked for (2 Thessalonians 3:10, Colossians 3:23-24, Romans 12:11). 

   • Although the basic premise of the parable remained the same in all three accounts, the adjectives used to describe the story reflected the personality of the gospel writer, even though the Holy Spirit guided their remembrance. After you read the parable, you can choose to look at it using your own perspective or in keeping with the context of Biblical scripture, you can look at it from God's. Reading with a self-focus may cause you to try to identify yourself in the appropriate group and will keep you stuck, whereas considering the meaning in light of your Father teaching you might show you a different, deeper meaning about Christlikeness being a growth process that takes time and needs to experience seasons so the seed grows and produces fruit. 

   • Another way to look at it is to understand that your part as the farmer who receives the seed (the Word of God) is to keep it alive by nurturing the Holy Spirit and continuously (progressively) cultivating the soil as you wait for a healthy crop to harvest. When you look at it this way, you can feel a sense of relief because you can see this a process that will take time with the end goal being your maturity, not perfection.

3. To test your perception change, try doing this same exercise with the phrase “unconditional love”.

 

 

If you have not become a Christian yet, know that God wants to be in a relationship with you. He loves you, but He is waiting for your consent, your invitation, your readiness, to try the habits of holiness so you take the straight, abundant path, through life, avoiding pitfalls. Pitfalls are unanticipated difficulties that can spiring from the temptation to please yourself despite being advised to broaden your perspective (Mark 14:38, 1 Corinthians 10:13, James 1:13-17). If you already called on Christ as Savior, then make a second decision and ask Him to be Lord of your life too. One without the other creates anxiety from an abuse of grace; a biblical description of cognitive dissonance. An abuse of grace is committed by a Christian who takes advantage of God’s mercy and kindness by accepting Him as Savior, but does not change their attitude and behavior to joyfully obey Christ revealing that He is the Lord of your life too (Romans 6:1, 1 Peter 3:15, Jude 4, Titus 2:1-14).

• Read the Bible to learn how God thinks and what He thinks of you.

• Align yourself to God's Truth as outlined in the Bible.

• Consciously and intentionally inhibit impulses and make intentional decisions that please God. ​