Chameleons At A Masquerade

I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God.

 If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

Galatians 1:10

Always being the smallest kid in school, I got bullied a LOT.  It wasn't, and isn't, a good feeling not being able to "fit in" yet I tried very hard to fit in by changing who I was depending on who I was around.  I became like a chameleon at a masquerade, switching masks like a magician.  Did it work? Not exactly.  I spent so much of my time changing masks to fit the expectations and standards of others, that I began to forget who I really was.

We make a HUGE mistake will do almost anything to gain acceptance from others.  Think about it...have you ever tried to impress someone by becoming who they wanted you to be?  Have you ever pretended?  I remember watching some of the guys in my classes trying to impress the girls by their "acting skills."  "Oh you're vegan? I only eat fruit myself."  "Wow, you like mushy movies too?"  "I LOVE animals! Especially the ones that provide us with bacon!"  Okay, that last one was a bad idea, but you get the point.

Think about how Abba loves and accepts us!  I can't earn His love and acceptance. I can't buy it. I can't join some secret society to get it. My clothes, car, bank account aren't enough to impress Him.  Hold onto your hats...I don't impress Him by even going to church!  You see, when all we are doing is going through the motions, how does that impress Him enough to love us? 

You want to know how you can stop being the chameleon at a masquerade and know Abba's true love for you?  Accept it!  Abba loves us warts, tattoos, piercings and all!  He loves us because of who we are...His Children!

There is nothing and no one who can love us like He does.  Not the job, not the romantic relationship, not friends, not pets...Only Abba loves us unconditionally!  Now, I will say this...my dog, Woody Bear, loves me far more than I deserve.  His is the closest thing to unconditional love I have known, and Abba teaches me through Woody Bear's patience and care.

Instead of looking for love...accept the free gift of Love Abba offers us!

 

Acceptance

"Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory."

Romans 15:7 

 

We have difficulty with acceptance...or is it just me?  We hear a LOT about acceptance, but do we truly understand acceptance?  You see, when Christ accepted us, He didn't necessarily agree with our motives, thoughts, acts, or decisions.  In fact, the reason Christ died for us is so we will be forgiven of all those.  

 

When we accept someone, that doesn't mean we will agree with them.  It means, like Christ, we are to welcome them AS THEY ARE.  We are to live in such a way that they will see Christ through us.  

 

Think about this...did Jesus wander about the countryside beating people over the head and telling them how WRONG they were and how they had to change NOW or else?  Not from what I've read.  I've said it before and I'm saying it again: Jesus met people where they were, accepted them AS they were, talked with them in ways THEY could understand, and loved them so much they were changed!  That's true ACCEPTANCE!

What REALLY Matters?

We've seen the news everywhere of people lashing out at others, blaming others for everything, protesting, protesting the protestors, being offended by pretty much everything...and the list is endless.  We are quickly going away from being civilized, where we can agree to disagree and still be friends, and are headed toward a collapse where there is chaos.  Why?  

I openly declare that I am not, nor have I been, a fan or follower of politics.  The name-calling, intimidation tactics, the calls for this and calls for that.....CHILDISH!!!  How is this following the instructions of Jesus: "Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul, mind and strength.  AND LOVE OTHERS IN THE SAME WAY YOU LOVE YOURSELF."  Are we doing that?  Is that what we see happening?

Look at the picture.....when your name is put on one of these, what will it matter what color your skin happens to be?  What will it matter where you are from?  What will your politics matter?  You know what WILL matter?  Whose you are!  And that will be remembered by how you treated others before your name was carved on that stone.

The Apostle Paul gives us the best possible counsel in Romans 12:18, "Do your best to live in peace with everyone."  In short, LEARN TO GET ALONG!!! And guess what?  That begins with the face in the mirror!

 

How To Hug A Porcupine!

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

Romans 12:18

 

Have you ever tried to hug a porcupine?  Yeah, probably not, which is a wise decision.  But have you ever tried to deal with a difficult person?  This discussion came up in Bible study last week.  How do you deal with "prickly" people?  

 

First, don't take their prickliness personally and be quick to forgive.  Try a change of perspective.  Perhaps they are under a lot of stress and pressure.  Perhaps they are having one of "those" days. Perhaps there are issues you aren't aware of.  Perhaps they don't realize that they are being a porcupine.

 

Second, be cordial, courteous, and friendly.  Sometimes people who are having a bad day just need a smile and a "Hi" from someone to let them know you care. Sometimes it's best to do is let them know you care and then give them some space.

 

Third, remind them they have value.  Everyone likes to know their efforts are appreciated.  Matter of fact, everyone likes to know they are appreciated and valuable. We like to know that our contribution to this world matters.

And above all else, put yourself in their shoes if possible.  If you were being a porcupine, how would you want to be treated.  Jesus told us to Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love others as we love ourselves.  Respond to porcupines with love and respect.  After all, we all have those days where we are porcupines.

What Do You Mean 'Get Along'?

¹⁵ When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow. ¹⁶ Work happily together. Don’t try to act big. Don’t try to get into the good graces of important people, but enjoy the company of ordinary folks. And don’t think you know it all!
Romans 12:15-16

I hope you'll forgive me, but I rather find it humorous when a member of the "upper crust" finds themselves in trouble and their mug shot is anything but the pompous arrogant persona the had portrayed for so long.

In today's passage, the Apostle gives us the precise keys to getting along with each other!

FIRST, Be happy with those who are happy and when they are sad share their sorrow.  

SECOND, Work TOGETHER! 

THIRD, don't act like you aren't human (just like the rest of us).

FOURTH, stop schmoozing with "important" people.  You'll have to work 1000 times harder to impress the snobbish than you would just being yourself and associating with others you actually like.

FINALLY, you don't know everything about everything, so don't act like you do.  Humbleness is a very good trait! 

Cliques? REALLY?

I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

1 Corinthians 1:10 

I am not a fan of politics by ANY stretch of the imagination!  From office cliques to political campaigns, I dislike them all because they do nothing but create divisiveness!  We should be setting the example for others by getting along with one another, rather than creating chaos and discord.

As I am writing this, I am contemplating how to handle a particular situation where a team, who should be relying on each other and encouraging each other, has become divided....all because of a clique which has developed.

Look at what the Apostle reminds us:

     * LIVE IN HARMONY WITH EACH OTHER

     * LET THERE BE NO DIVISIONS 

     * BE OF ONE MIND

     * BE UNITED IN THOUGHT AND PURPOSE

You can't have cliques AND live in harmony with others.  You can't have office politics and be of one mind.  You can't be divided and be united in thought and purpose.

Isn't it time to let go of the childish games and start looking out for each other, encouraging each other, helping each other, and caring about each other?

Changing Others

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help. ~Romans 14:1-4

Have you ever heard someone say something about God they believed to be completely true, but you knew that they were wrong?  Did you tell them they were wrong?  

I once had a co-worker who said that God was just a big Grandfather type guy who sits in Heaven, is hard of hearing and doesn't know what's going on here on Earth because He's not doing anything to help her.  When I heard her say that, I began grinding my teeth, my blood pressure shot WAY up and I wanted to berate her, chapter and verse, that her "knowledge" was false.  But I knew that starting a debate would turn into an argument which usually never ends well.  So I was silent, prayed for her, and still accepted her.

FIVE YEARS later, she came into my office and asked me if God is real or is He just a Santa Claus kind of guy you ask for things and He give them to you.  I explained, as best as I could, that my belief (stressing that this was MY belief) that God is very real and no matter what happens to me, He is still in control.  I went on to explain that regardless what happens in my life, God can take my circumstances and turn them into something amazing.  She told me that she was glad I hadn't confronted her when she had made those statements five years before, because she now knew that God is real and is in control and is definitely very close to her.

After our talk, I began to recall how many times I had witnessed or heard of churches splitting because of some silly argument that ultimately lead to "our way or the highway" (things such as the color of the pew cushions, which side of the sanctuary should the piano be on, the temperature setting of the sanctuary, the length of the announcements vs. the length of the sermon, and on and on).  What purpose do such arguments serve except to prove to others that the church is not a loving place?

We are to be accepting, and let God deal with the issue.  Why?  He's got more practice at resolving issues than any of us!

ONE

There is no distinction between Jew and Greek, 

because the same Lord is Lord of all, 

who gives richly to all who call on him.

Romans 10:12 

 

I don't understand something....

     *   we all have people in our lives that we care about

     *   we all have hearts that beat that keeps the blood flowing through our bodies

     *   we all have minds that we are supposed to use to think

     *   we all breathe

     *   we all get hungry and thirsty

     *   we all have needs 

     *   we all have the ability to laugh

     *   we all have the ability to love

 

So why are we so focused on the inconsequential differences and use those as a basis to become angry and divisive? 

 

I am not a fan of vanilla ice cream, but I do enjoy chocolate peanut butter.  Does that make me wrong?  Does that mean my tastes mean more than someone else?

 

I don't like salad dressing, but I like salad.  Does that make me evil or just weird?

 

I sometimes forget, not intentionally though.  Does that mean I hate the things I forget?  

 

I am not a fan of politics (office or otherwise).  Does that make me someone to be detested?

 

I like to sit quietly and think.  Does that make me a horrible person?

 

I don't believe my life is of more value or of less value than yours.  Does that make be a hater?

 

The point I'm trying to make is this, we are all unique.....from each other, yet we all are the same.  We have more similarities than differences.  So why do we focus so much on the differences? 

 

We tend to focus on what a person looks like.  I've seen myself in the mirror (which proves beyond a doubt that God has a sick sense of humor).  We look at the clothes people wear, the car they drive, the jewelry they have, their hair, their homes, and we pass judgement on them for the inconsequential!  

 

When are we going to wake up and focus on what we have in common?  Jesus did not pay the price just for one race or gender, he died paid the debt for ALL who accept Him!  When will we stop FINDING reasons to be divisive!

 

It CAN Be Christmas!

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

~Luke 2:14

 

I don't often copy and paste someone else's work for these devotional, but this one stuck in my mind and I simply felt compelled to share it:

 

On a crisp, clear morning 100 years ago, thousands of British, Belgian and French soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and spent Christmas mingling with their German enemies along the Western front. In the hundred years since, the event has been seen as a kind of miracle, a rare moment of peace just a few months into a war that would eventually claim over 15 million lives. But what actually happened on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1914 — and did they really play soccer on the battlefield?

Pope Benedict XV, who took office that September, had originally called for a Christmas truce, an idea that was officially rejected. Yet it seems the sheer misery of daily life in the cold, wet, dull trenches was enough to motivate troops to initiate the truce on their own — which means that it’s hard to pin down exactly what happened. A huge range of differing oral accounts, diary entries and letters home from those who took part make it virtually impossible to speak of a “typical” Christmas truce as it took place across the Western front. To this day historians continue to disagree over the specifics: no one knows where it began or how it spread, or if, by some curious festive magic, it broke out simultaneously across the trenches. Nevertheless, some two-thirds of troops — about 100,000 people — are believed to have participated in the legendary truce.

Most accounts suggest the truce began with carol singing from the trenches on Christmas Eve, “a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere”, as Pvt. Albert Moren of the Second Queens Regiment recalled, in a document later rounded up by the New York Times. Graham Williams of the Fifth London Rifle Brigade described it in even greater detail:

“First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fideles. And I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing ­– two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.”

The next morning, in some places, German soldiers emerged from their trenches, calling out “Merry Christmas” in English. Allied soldiers came out warily to greet them. In others, Germans held up signs reading “You no shoot, we no shoot.” Over the course of the day, troops exchanged gifts of cigarettes, food, buttons and hats. The Christmas truce also allowed both sides to finally bury their dead comrades, whose bodies had lain for weeks on “no man’s land,” the ground between opposing trenches.
 

 So you see, Christmas is more than just a day off from work to rip open packages that will be forgotten in a few days.  Christmas is the opportunity to make changes to our hearts and lives.  Take time to let this sink in.  Do you need to make changes? 

Gear Up!

Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.

1 Corinthians 12:20-25

 I have always had a fascination with how things work together to accomplish a goal.  For example, when I was younger, I found a wristwatch and managed to get the back off to reveal all the gears and springs working so purposefully just so I would know the time of day.  I stared at this very tiny device for hours lost in complete fascination of the mind that put all these parts together to perform this function.

Being the curious one, I decided that I would see what would happen if I took a single sprocket out of the works.  And guess what, the watch still worked, but began losing time.  Why? Because I had decided it didn't need that sprocket.  I had deemed that sprocket to be insignificant to the function of the rest of the machinations.

In 2005 I have quadruple bypass surgery, which meant the surgeon had to create four bypasses of my heart's arteries so my heart would continue to function.  In order to do that, the surgeon didn't merely call Amazon.com and order a new set of arteries (laugh if you will).  On the contrary, the surgeon too the long artery out of my left leg, divided it into four pieces and re-purposed the artery from my leg to cause my heart to work.  Now, while I am extremely grateful for the surgeon's ability to reuse my bits and pieces, the result of this was a diminished capacity of operation in my left leg.  Over the course of time, this diminished capacity has become more apparent to me especially when I have been on my feet for long periods of time.

Now.....I said all that to say this, the true church is a single unit made up of different parts.  For those who believe the true church is a building with comfy seats and stained glass where one can go and get a quick nap before the afternoon of sports, you are mistaken.  The TRUE church is PEOPLE!  And as any societal group, everyone has a function and purpose.  Take any society and take away the farmers, it won't take long for the society to notice the pack of produce.  True, we could survive for a while strictly on meat, but without the nutrients from the plants the lives would be diminished.  Think of the church as such a society where every single person has a purpose.  I cannot tell someone they aren't welcome to be part of our group simply because they don't think exactly the way I think.  I can't tell someone they aren't welcome in the church because they sing very loudly and off key.

So why do we do this with each other?  We gravitate toward those with a gregarious personality, because they are "fun" but they might not be wise.  We tend to overlook those who are quiet because they are "boring" but they might be the most caring people.  We must learn to accept each other, differences, warts, wrinkles and all because each of us has a purpose!  After all, doesn't God love you just as much as He loves me?

 

Sing In Harmony? Have Your Heart Me Sing?

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

~Romans 15:5-7

I like to sing....but only in the car when I am alone and the windows are up.  I like to sing Joe Walton's "Rocky Mountain Way" or "Seven Bridges Road" by the Eagles or "Holiday Road" from the movie 'Vacation'.  And there's a reason I am alone in the car and the windows are up, and it's because I sing very badly.

Have you ever heard a group sing and none of them were singing the same song?  I will be honest, one Sunday morning my bride and I were attending services and there was a lovely young lady seated behind us who was a true delight to talk to, but singing was not among her gifts.  But she would make her joyful noise loudly and with all the gusto her spirit had been filled with. 

Now consider this: Each of us is a part in God's harmony called "creation."  And if we aren't helping join the harmony we are destroying the harmony!  We destroy this harmony with our attitudes, anger, hatred, disrespect of others, and believing that we are the only ones who matter.  But look at what the Apostle Paul says: "ACCEPT each other just as Christ accepted you!"  So it's not about you!  It's about the fact that God has accepted and welcomed you through Christ!  So how can we do differently and call ourselves  Believers?

And just so you know, the Apostle Paul was not the ghastly white six foot Adonis depicted in the stained glass windows.  Paul was Turkish (being from Tarsus) and was considered small (5' - 5'2") even for his time.  Paul was also stooped and almost blind due to his occupation as a tentmaker (very intensely delicate and tedious work).  Would you accept such a person?  Or are looks the only standard of acceptance used?

Feeling Victorious?

The Lord your God is in your midst;
he is a warrior who can deliver.
He takes great delight in you;
he renews you by his love;
he shouts for joy over you.

Zephaniah 3:17

When will we stop feeling defeated?  With all that is going on in the world today we act as if somehow God has been beaten.  But that simply is not true!  

God is a warrior!  Not only that, but God is OUR warrior!  NOT ONLY THAT, but God is our warrior who cannot be defeated.  And when I say "cannot be defeated" I am not using the "Oh My Goodness that just cannot happen to someone so nice", I am stating that there is NO WAY that God can ever be anything other than victorious!

Read on!  Not only is God THE warrior who can never be defeated, but He takes GREAT DELIGHT IN YOU!  God likes you!  Warts, farts, flaws and all!  God likes you so much that He renews you with His love and SHOUTS FOR JOY over you!  

So when you are feeling defeated or just banged up a bit, remember that God is filling you with His love because He loves you AND He is shouting to all of creation "LOOK!  This is MY child that I love!"  Think about it, if our parents had done that when we were children, we would have been so embarrassed...but when God does that we are strengthened!  

The enemy will whisper that no one can love us because of our pasts and because we aren't perfect.  But GOD, who has the final word, loudly calls that a lie because of Jesus' sacrifice for us!  So remember WHO is proclaiming His love and joy over you to ALL creation and know YOU are a child of the most loving King!