How do you perceive yourself? How does others perceive you? Are you in agreement with how you and others perceive yourself, themselves and others? Good question…..”How does others perceive you?” CF said by definition that perceive means to understand on an earlier blog. Can or do others actually “understand” us, I wonder?
August 14, 2007 we did our first bog on Perception verses Perspective, check it out: TThe Daily Lily » Blog Archive » Perception verses Perspective
What an eye popping self revival that sings from our viewing box of ourselves, opinions and our perspectives on our gut passions. Let’s ask ourselves some questions and have an open book test.
Do we do acts of righteousness, ie, good deeds to have others admire us? What does God’s word say about that from Matthew 6:1
What are we hungering for and how do we get satisfied? Maybe the teachings from Luke 6:21 will help us.
Am I stiff-necked? If so, what does God have to say about that? Read Deuteronomy 10:16 (NIV) among many other God directives we can research on stiff-neck. “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.”
Let’s take a new look from our viewing box of 2010 and see if our perspective now has a different perception? Mine does and I am making a move for a new visual viewing. Hope you will join me… Psalm 27:8 NLT “My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.”
thedailylily.com 
Needles, when I think of a skilled photographer with an eye for beauty stopping by my home and making A virtual tour to promote for sale I jump with fright!
After review of part I, my self revival lasted about as long as a week of revival services held in a local church that I didn’t even attend. “What an eye popping self revival that sings from our viewing box of ourselves, opinions and our perspectives on our gut passions. Let’s ask ourselves some questions and have an open book test.”
Yes, the open book test lead me gently to try again and seek for this rest. “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” Proverbs 3:24 NIV
Needles you ask, “How do you perceive yourself? How does others perceive you? …..Can or do others actually “understand” us, I wonder?”
IF the light that I am ‘throwing forward’ as referred to in Perception vs. Perspective Part I is the Light of the World, Jesus, then there should be tangible results from throwing it forward. Part I states, “We learned that we must “throw our light forward”, so God’s message can be known…” From this I believe that if we are truly throwing our Light forward, others ought to be able to perceive the Light and respond to the Light from their individual perception because the Light is the Truth of God. I think that this ‘should’ be the way others perceive me and it should align with how I perceive myself. At least that is a goal or hope. But how far am I from that goal? When I looked at some example in scripture, my progress chart didn’t measure up.
In John 4:19, the woman at the well responded to the Light with her perception after Jesus’ discourse with her, “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.”
In Acts 9:34-38, Philip got feedback on throwing his light forward and answers to the question of how other’s perceive you from the eunuch,
“So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.”
And in Acts 16:30-33 Paul and Silas threw their Light forward and and others were able to perceive the Light from their perspective and this was the result: “And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.”
All perceived the Light of the world and desired the Light of the world. Quite a litmus test.
I see we have some good “open book” discussion so far. Thanks for the comments. Lets see what else we can learn…
The New Living Translation uses the word, “stubborn” for “stiff-necked”. Yikes!
“Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
I Sam. 15:23
Footnotes for this scripture in 1 Samuel 15: 23 says: “Rebellion and stubbornness are serious sins. They involve far more than being independent and strong-minded. Scripture equates them with witchcraft and idolatry, sins worthy of death (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20: 6; Deuteronomy 13: 12-15; 18:10; Micah 5: 10-14). Saul became both rebellious and stubborn, so it is little wonder that God finally rejected him and took away his kingdom. Rebellion against God is perhaps the most serious sin of all because as long as a person rebels, he or she closes the door to forgiveness and restoration with God.”
As I reread this blog…I read the word, “stubborn” again, and all I could see was a donkey and/or mule. I have just begun a new women’s Bible study titled, “Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed: A Study of David”. Last week was our first lesson, and Priscilla Shirer shared with us, on a CD/video. Priscilla shared that her friend had a donkey/mule that got out of his pasture or normal location, because of a female donkey/mule, nearby. Priscilla knew that this woman needed help getting this donkey/mule back home, so she ventured out to help. (she flashed a picture up of her trying to pull this donkey/mule along). Priscilla said that as she tried to pull this donkey/mule along, and he refused to move, she said she believed the Holy Spirit spoke to her….”now, isn’t this like you and I sometimes?”(implying that she is like the donkey/mule sometimes)
Lord, help us to move, when Your sweet Holy Spirit instructs us to.
Needles, love this study. Thank you!
Elisabeth Elliott writes, “One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was, ‘do the next thing'” I think this explains a little to me about your donkey/mule story. Our idea of waiting for God or for others to change may just be a mule/donkey story. What is right in front of us is the next thing. If we are using excuses like my church seems so dry, I have not heard His voice, etc. etc. maybe its time we faithfully do what is in front of us instead of waiting for God to make us a horse when we are really just ‘old nags.’
Also, our personal/present circumstances are visible guides to help us see from a different view. Drop ‘stubbornness and rebellion’ and get on the move doing the next thing. As Elisabeth Elliott says, ‘do the next thing.’
Don’t just talk about how things were, how you want things to be or when you move or groove just do the next thing and that is what sits in front of you!
Debi, did you answer the question that you asked from the quote? Or, did you add to the wondering?
Rebellion, stubbornness, iniquity and idolotry….seem to be related to one another, intrinsically. “Witchcraft is the exercise or invocation of supernatural powers”….(not of GOD)…”to control people, events”…and destinies. (quotes Britannica ency.) If one uses ungodly supernatural powers of the devil, that certainly is rebellion against the sovereign God which is iniquity, (sin). And it is idolotry because it sets one’s own self up as a god who controls persons and things and self adulation is one of its goals.
As to Needles question about the difference between perspective and perception. The dictionary definitions for these are:
PERCEPTION: To understand thru sensory awareness.
PERSPECTIVE: Mental view or outlook.
In applying these definitions to how do others PERCEIVE me…they may see me as a nice lady, good teacher, makes the students laugh and enjoy their classes, helpful. These are sensory perceptions…how I look to others OR appear to others, through their senses. BUT their mental ..(PERSPECTIVE) view or outlook concerning me , or the view from the soul may be entirely different. A discerning person may detect that I am weak in some area, or insensitive, or selfish, or greedy or proud although the PERCEPTION of me might be somewhat different.
Yikes is right, Needles. Back to the drawing board.
MG, is someone’s perspective of another based solely on the condition of the perceiver’s mental condition?
To answer your question, Sara, I thought I tried but maybe I only added to wondering ?? If I had answered clearly you would have understood/ known that I had…so by your response, I didn’t. So maybe this is the measuring stick for how others perceive us…if we are clear and make sense people can respond and there is productivity. I think I have more questions than answers…will keep thinking and seeking.
Seeing, viewing and doing! As a member of a very large family, I always understood, when you see a job that needs to be done, do it. I also remember back some years ago a very young couple with small children were attending our church and he didn’t do or say much. He attended, we helped with all his children, they enjoyed the meal gatherings and fun times as well. Then one night in a Bible study he spoke and I have held on to his words. He said, “I am always praying and telling and asking God to give me a ministry, something to do for Him. Then God would place many things right before my eyes and I would say, “NO, not that Lord, that is not what I want to do.”
Many times cleaning the floor, washing the windows, bathroom and clerical duties have no appeal when we are magically awaiting a big stage to drop right down in front of us and saying, hey, go for it. And, some of us may have the audacity to believe we have what it takes to go for it! Yep, at times we wait for “American Idol.” Give it all we got even if we don’t have it!!!! When many days all God ask from us is to give a smile, a hug, a tear or a mentoring word.
Also, we have a dream desire that is from God and we become consumed with the dream trying to make it happen. The greater faith would be to be happy and active right where we are and give God space to make the dream His reality. Little things do matter!
I hope this blog with its comments will become all these things to many 23/7 and have ethereal beauty for the entire world.
Responding to my above (book) comment. I left my computer and checked my porches for flooding as we are having heavy rains. And, guess what, flooding! OK, do what you see to do. All I can say, I tried and tried and didn’t do to well. I did the next step, called my husband from work!!!!
Did I do well?
I am also starting a new Bible study with Needles. I really enjoyed our lesson last week with Priscilla Shirer. Unfortuantly due to the weather we will have to wait a week to go to the next session. As I studied this blog and reread the one back in 2007, some thoughts came to my mind. Priscilla showed us a picture of her pulling a donkey who didn’t want to budge. My perspective of the picture of the donkey is a stubborn animal. I can honestly say that I have never been around donkeys, but everything that I have learned about them and everything that I’ve heard about them from my grandparents has convienced me that they are stubborn. My parents have even made the statement to me that I was as stubborrn as a donkey. So my perspective (how I see it) is that the donkey is stubborn. Jesus had a different perspective of the donkey. His view of the donkey was to fulfill the prophecy of the Old Testament. Matthew 21:5 “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey- riding on a donkey’s colt.” [OT prophecy Isaiah 62:11 The Lord has sent this message to every land: “Tell the people of Israel, ‘Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.” Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice , O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey-riding on a donkey’s colt.” Jesus’s perception of the donkey was a humility.
I pray that Jesus will clarify my perspective and perception according to His will.
Interesting Chickenfarmer in your thoughts on the donkey. I had a communicate with Needles on our thoughts on words just yesterday. Donkeys are good, rainbow is good, sex is good, etc. But, when out of God’s plan for each and everything and each person; than good becomes questionable.
My son, Jon, once told me, “my strengths can be my weaknesses.”
My husband, Gary, told me to take the barnacles off of my words. I just now looked up barnacle and look what I found; ” used figuratively to describe a tenacious person or thing…” OK, CF, I am reading you!
To answer your question about whether PERSPECTIVE has to do with the mental condition of the one who is being perspective or the mental capacity of the one who is the object. I am guessing that the one who has perspicuity, i.e. (clear insight or discernment) might have a more proper analysis whether the person who is the object of that discernment is mentally stable or not. (??)
And along with CF’s comments, when the prophet Balaam was conniving to extort money for prophesying ill to Israel, the little donkey was obedient to the Lord and allowed God to use her to speak and check the prophet’s madness. (2Pet. 2:15)
Numbers 22:28-33 “Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” It asked Balaam. “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!” “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have } ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because of you are stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey”
I’m not sure why Balaam didn’t think his donkey speaking to him was strange. If he thought this way he sure didn’t say it. I would have probably been alittle afraid if a donkey was talking to me. Maybe he was blinded by his stubborness and his anger?
Maybe he was also blinded by self-absorption and pride because, as you wrote above, he did tell his donkey “You have made me look like a fool!” Maybe as Needles mentioned in her blog, he wanted admiration, not just being ignored.
Good point Debi.
O, Man, the donkey and Balaam sure had an encounter in the court of hearing and seeing. Court case name; Perception vs. Perspective! The jury is out on this.
CF, I don’t think Balaam would have thought it strange that the donkey spoke. After all Balaam was and is the ass. Dictionary gives this sentence for ass; “make an ass of oneself informal behave in a way that makes one look foolish or stupid:”
It seems a lot of us are donkeys acting like an ass (behave in a way that makes one look foolish or stupid:) until the Lord did what he did for Balaam, ‘open our eyes that we might see.” We get a different perspective on things and then maybe our perception might change for good or we just might judge God as not loving or caring. And, we run right back and make another “ass of ourselves.”
OMG, CF, are you saying your Mom thought or thinks you are a talking donkey. Take no pride in this…..
Yes, Jesus rode into the city on a donkey. We like to imagine the humility of Christ for this journey He made knowing some would forever call Him The Messiah!
Philippians 2 -” Jesus, although equal to God, chose to empty Himself of His human rights in humility to identify with weak humanity.” His Mother, Mary rode into Bethlehem carrying Jesus in her womb, on a donkey… Jesus, THE Sacrifical Lamb riding on a donkey gives us a picturesque view of Jesus’ sacrifice for all mankind. His teachings still rides long journeys on stubbornness found in the heart and actions of men and women.
Needles asked, how do I perceive myself? And, how does others perceive me? A talking donkey with a lofty rider that perceives me as a sheep that needs constant care.
YAH, CF. I’ve encourntered “donkeys” talking to me at certain times in my life And sometimes I have sounded like one, too. Yikes. As Sara keeps warning….we will have to give an account of the times we have spoken like jackasses and (Not like Balaam’s donkey who spoke truth)
I have made a jackass of myself a few times. Maybe we need to listen to Mr. Gary and get the barnacles off of our words.
The jury is in!
I looked up barnacle in the dictionary and look what I found as one of the definitions for barnacle! bar·na·cle2
[bahr-nuh-kuhl] –noun
1. Usually, barnacles. an instrument with two hinged branches for pinching the nose of an unruly horse.
Say, CV, that definition sounds like a pretty good description of what we are talking about here. To barnacle a horse to make him OBEY commands. Sounds like what some stubborn Jackasses need to make them “MOVE” when the command comes.
But I suspect that barnacles on our words really could mean, not unlike those that cling to a ship’s bottom. That they are uncomely attachments to our words, clumsy hitchhikers that attach themselves to our speech and hinder our communication.
And CV, I also found in those definitions of BARNACLE….” Barnacle… a person hard to get rid of”. I guess that could apply to words that we have spoken out of turn or in jest or that came out the wrong way and hurt or damaged a person(s) feelings, reputation, etc….barnacled words that we really can never get rid of. Like Sara told me today, they are out there in cyber space, in the universe’s spacial realm and they are indeed hard to get rid of, if ever….those mis-spoken, barnacled words.
Chris, the barnacle definition you found must be the same instrument thoroughbred horse racing people refer to as ‘tongs’. And you are right…used for unruly horses. My dad trained racehorses and ‘tongs’ were used primarily in the starting gate for stubborn, unmanageable horses who refused to enter the gate and/or cooperate in it. Some reacted this way from fear, others from lack of proper training and most from plain hard-headedness. First the ‘starters’ would try to lead the horse with the jockey on, into the gate by a long lead strap. Sometimes they used a strap behind to try to push the horse forward. And if that didn’t work, they put the tongs (Barnacles) on their nose to force them in and hold them still until the starter sprang the gate open for the horses to break and run the race….last forcible measure after other disciplines had failed! Also this measure went on a horses ‘record’ so that additional training was required before they could race again…some were even banned or disqualified if they would’nt cooperate in the gate because it created problems for others in the race and slowed the process down, creating time and trouble problems for all.
So this all makes me think that if we don’t get the barnacles off our words we won’t even get out of the starting gate to get in the race.
Great definition Chris…I get the picture now!
Barnacles on words may be saying things without thinking of the meaning of what we say, or saying things that we’ve said so many times that we are just parroting words and forget the depth of their meaning.
To removes “barnacles” from our words we may have to evaluate our speech and the goal of what we are trying to say and why we are saying it.
Does my speaking have a purpose? Am I just trying to be heard? Do the words I speak have any importance? Or are they just idles words?
… to add to your donkey stories…some of our words and actions show that we treat God, church and the teachings of Jesus like we are playing ‘pin the tail on the donkey.’ We just pin God on our lives like a donkey tail game.
Saint Augustine wrote: “Mary’s relationship to Jesus as his mother would have been no use to her unless she carried Christ more happily in her heart than she bore him in her body.”
I also read; “Luke in his gospel praises Mary not simply because she gave birth to Jesus, but because she listened to God’s word, believed in it and acted upon it.”
This is not a game. I hope we move on with it and get the “barnacles off our Christian bottoms.”
We are a people of hope because of the Crucified-Risen Christ who vanquished evil at its roots II Corinthians 6:1,2 “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation…” We live our lives one day at a time. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may never come. Today is the only day we have, to be saved by the grace of God. Move on and give another a helping hand to view the Wondrous Cross…”On which the Prince of glory died,…”
Needles, looks as though we have moved all around to gain a view of Hope and finally caught a glimpse.
Needles asked “How do you perceive yourself? How does others perceive you? Are you in agreement with how you and others perceive yourself, themselves and others? Good question…..”How does others perceive you?”
We hope the ‘pride of the jackass’ has fled and we perceive ourselves anew and others will perceive us this way as well and glorify Our Heavenly Father. “…let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:16
Gary, “PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY GAME” is a good analogy of how some of us Christians treat the Lord. The game entails (excuse the pun) of first blindfolding the subject so that he cannot “SEE”, spinning him/her around 3 or 4 times to disorient the person and then SORT OF pointing them in the direction of the object on which the “tail” is pinned. Sure sounds a little like Christian Roulette to me.
It also reminds me of the classic WILLIAM TELL who was pressed to procure his release from bondage by shooting an apple off his son’s head from quite a distance, with a crossbow. But some are like Tell blindfolded and shooting at a precious target and not knowing if the arrow will reach its intended target. Maybe yes, maybe no.
The visual picture Needles has given us with scripture, Proverbs 2:24 “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” This is a very precious promise. And, I want it, don’t you?
I hope from this study I have drawn a little closer to God and He has drawn closer to me. James 4:8 NLT “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”
Let’s get God perspective on all things and not grope around in the dark and we will perceive the right and perfect way regardless of how others may perceive us.