Welcome to Riveted! Attention matters. What captures it captures my heart and affects those I love. My name is Jack Anderson and there's no one I love more than God. Or so I say. But I've noticed lately I haven't noticed Him lately. The one most worthy of notice.
I want to give God what He gives me. The kindness of my attention. It's also for my sake. I pray this site helps you focus on Him too.
NEW Blog post: 'Paralyzed from the neck up'
I want to give God what He gives me. The kindness of my attention. It's also for my sake. I pray this site helps you focus on Him too.
NEW Blog post: 'Paralyzed from the neck up'
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Two Hearts: One Journey (Blog)
Random reflections from my own up and down friendship with God |
Glimpses of His Heart (Devotional)
Devotionals on the heart of God as He reveals Himself in Scripture. |
Paralyzed from the neck up
Excerpts: Like Thoreau, I wish to live deliberately. I do not want to come to the end and find I never lived. A wrong decision can ruin a life. But so can indecision. My default is to stop swinging because I fear striking out. Deep change never just happens. I must be intentional if I'm to change. Having intentions is not the same as being intentional. If I’m intentional, I turn intentions into actions. Desires into decisions. Dreams into plans. I'm not intentional. Dreaming has often become a substitute for action. But like a muscle, the less I use my will, the harder it becomes to use it. I don't want to spend my life ‘indefinitely preparing to live’. (P. Tournier) 
Hey God! Could I be honest?
Molly sat by Jesus daily at dinner. He had His own chair and place setting. One time Molly said 'Jesus! You're rude! You sit here but don't say a word' I love her candor with God. If honest, I'm not always honest with God. 'We must lay before Him what is in us; not what ought to be in us.' C.S. Lewis 
Out of His Story and into mine
Imagine the Emmaus road painting on your wall. And Jesus stepping out of the painting onto your road. Entering your home. Sitting at your table. I love this image! God and man in deep conversation. On a country road. To me, it’s the story of God. Captured in a single image. A picture of God! Why is He here? Because they are! They need hope. And so He shows up. 
Prayers in my head, left unsaid
I know God sees my heart tonight and hears my silent cry. I know He feels the pain I feel. And understands the why. I know that He still wants me. Even though my love is weak. I know His heart’s a safe place where a soul is free to speak. What I don’t know is why I hide. Behind a me that isn’t me. When He sees the me I really am and loves the me He sees. So why do I end the day with prayers in my head I never say? 
When pain is all I think about (Part 2)
‘It will be as if a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as if he enters his house and rests his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him’. Amos 5:19 Ever feel like that? How do I live with the pain I can't avoid? 
When pain is all I think about (Part 1)
Pain can easily consume your attention. And your heart. And what holds your heart can also break it. Very seldom is it the hurts of life that break our hearts. It's hurting alone. The comfort we need is found in a friend. What most relieves my pain is not being consumed by it. How? By fixing my attention on God. For my faith can only as strong as what I focus on. 
First fall in love ... then change the world
Excerpts: Before God says ‘Go’, He first says ‘Come’. Friendship matters more to Him than ministry. I get it backwards. I value fruit-bearing over abiding. Impact over relationship. Result: Zero impact and artificial fruit. My son captures this truth well in a song he wrote ‘First let’s fall in love'. God alone can change the world. But He wants to do it with His friends. Fearless lovers who would rather make Christ known than make a mark. If ministry's all about me, all you get is me. When what you need is God. 
The Me I See
It’s hard to love me as I am if no one else does. Or if I don't feel they do. For I tend to see me as others do. Or as I think they do. The question is: Do I see me as God does? For He sees me as I am and loves me as I am. 
The sweet joy of being liked - Part 2
How do I see myself? Is my view of me true of me? Is it who God sees? I want to see the me He sees. The me I really am. Yet I tend to only see who I’m not. I also tend to think that's what you see when you see me. 
The sweet joy of being liked - Part 1
Why do I lack confidence? Question my worth? Maybe I lack confidence because I question my worth. What's amazing is that God never has. He thinks I'm worth dying for. What He does question is my self-judgment. 
The sweet comfort of your undivided attention
"The greatest gift you can give is the purity of your attention." R. Moss Attention matters! Why? People matter. And attention affects people. 
The mirror between us
I carry a mirror inside my head. If honest, I look at it more than I should. Downside is: I can’t see God, you, the beauty around me. All I see is me. 
A wake-up call for the soul
I get distracted by what I want and don’t have. Or what I have but don’t want. And I miss what I really want most: God. The God who wants me. 
Together all alone
How quickly I lose awareness of Immanuel, God 'with' us. I haven't left Him. I forget Him. I’ve not lost His presence. I've lost my awareness of it. 
Our astonishing God + my un-astonished heart Over-familiarity is a sedative. It dulls the senses. Nothing affects me. Not even God. It’s not beauty or God that changes. It's the heart I see with.
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Home just isn't home without you
Excerpts: After dropping his son off at college, his Dad said ‘in parental math, five minus one just doesn’t equal plenty.’ Same with God. There is a place in His heart for you. A place at His table. Which only you can fill. God loves you in a uniquely individual way. Yet is that possible? With so many of us? That He loves us all makes His love for me feel less special. Yet in Jn 17:23, Jesus says the Father loves us as much as He loves Him. Lisa Bevere says 'God doesn't love us all equally. He loves each uniquely. 
What does God feel when I don't? (Part 2)
Indifference is like hypothermia. If I sleep, I die. Yet it’s all I want to do. If you love me, don’t let me. It’s why God keeps crying 'Return to me!' We need to connect with God. He’s the fire we need. If love's fire cools, what both hearts needs is a heart to heart. It's how we fell in love. I saw her heart. Same with God. I won't sell all for any treasure unless I see it. 
What does God feel when I don't? (Part 1)
How does my unaffected heart affect His? Is He like me? If you retreat, I will. Or If I retreat, I assume you will. As I assume God would. But does He? 
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Anyone made assumptions of you that aren't true? I do it to God. I stop trusting His heart. I take His 'no' as 'I don't care'. Yet He says it because He does. I cry feeling He doesn't love me. He cries because He does. 
So what's God up to on cold winter nights?
My head knows God watches over me. Why can’t my heart rest in that? Why these anxious thoughts? As if finding the 'solution' will let me rest. And yet God offers no solution. He offers Himself and His watchful care. 
But I need love with skin on - Part 2
The loss of love hurts. I can't undo it nor un-break my heart. God will not remove my grief. But He'll grieve with me. If I lose you, no one can take your place. Not even God. But He can take His. Beside me. If I'll let Him. 
But I need love with skin on - Part 1
I’m glad God loves me. But I also want love with skin on! Yes, this desire can eclipse my desire for God. But the desire itself is no offense to God. He gave it to us. Unlike Elkanah, He doesn't say 'Isn't my love enough?' 
The God who Notices
Ever felt invisible? Ever wonder if anyone ever wonders about you? The beggar in Jn. 9 can't see. Nor is he seen. A beggar is invisible. To all but himself. How does He see himself? Unworthy of notice. Until the day he is noticed by God Himself. Unaware his broken heart has broken God's. 
Total Eclipse of the Son
A total eclipse illustrates what goes on in my soul when anything other than God consumes my attention. Anything that fills my vision can hide anything. Even God. Is there a ‘moon' that's come between God and I? The glory of God is His heart. I see it best in the human face of His Son. 
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