Relative

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My grandpa used to say,

“All things are relative.

It just depends on which side of the locked bathroom door you’re on.

If you’re on the outside, things are a little less relative."

Relativity is a funny thing, in a relative way. Relativity (what seems important to us) changes all the time. The are so many factors that affect whether something seems relative to us at any moment, and the next moment that which was relative may now seem not to be relative due to some newly emerging issue which now seems more relative.

Relativity is so personal and so based upon what I think about things (regardless of what you may think, feel or need). That’s how I know that it’s a concept that’s not of God, because it’s a “me” thing and not a “God” thing or a “thinking of others” thing.

God, however, uses our ever-changing sense of relativity to keep us in check, even when we think that we’re on a roll, spiritually speaking. This happened to me some years ago.

While having breakfast at a local establishment, two senior citizen ladies were dining several tables away from my children and I. Our family was having breakfast before going to G-ball and T-ball games for my kids, so we were all in baseball uniforms or t-shirts and jeans.

God has blessed me in helping me to lose many pounds over the past 15 years - from nearly 300 pounds when I didn’t know Christ down to my current weight. Now understand that I’ve haven’t been walking around thinking I’m a fashion model or something :-). I still have another 40 pounds or so that I’d like to lose, so I’m not a toothpick yet and - even when I get to that weight, Lord willing - I’d like to think that I will remember that it was God who healed me and not me who accomplished anything by myself.

This glorious weight loss testimony, however, was lost on these 2 older women sitting nearby, neither of whom had ever met me. Quite loudly, one woman said to the other, “Look at that! Some people in this town are unbelievable. They're walking around with their stomachs hanging out.” My kids never heard a word of it, busy with their scrambled eggs and all. But I’m sure most of the rest of the lobby heard it.

It was obvious from both the volume and bitterness of the 2 ladies comments that my feelings were not a relative issue to them. But were their feelings relative to me?

How should I respond? My back was to the ladies’ table, so this enabled me to take a few minutes before we got up to leave to commune with our Father about what had happened.

The Lord showed me a vision of me going over to the ladies and quietly kneeling down and humbly sharing the testimony of my healing and subsequent weight loss to this point. In the vision, the 2 women were apologetic, embarrassed and remorseful. “I know that if you’d known all of this”, I saw and heard myself saying in the vision, “That you wouldn’t have said what you said, and I just wanted you to know that I understand”.

Sounds great, right? But there was something about that vision that bothered me. It was the fact that I could stand up and go talk to the ladies, share my story, and make the Truth of my circumstance known to them, and then my feelings would be relative to them. Perhaps we could even have forged a bond through the experience. But - at what cost?

I realized what God wanted to teach me through that vision was that I didn’t need to make my case to those ladies, even through a sincerely humble sharing of my story like the one God showed me in the vision. Those ladies didn’t know my story, but to reveal it to them would have only made them feel bad, and that wasn’t what God - or I - wanted to see happen.

What God wanted me to do was to give Him glory in that very moment for how he had blessed me physically; to worship Him and glorify Him at that moment in response to satan’s attempt to distract me from the wonder of what God has already done for me. To say even one more time, “Father, thank You for seeing what the doctors didn’t, for touching my body and healing me, and for bringing about this weight loss to Your glory." And so I did just that. I thanked Him. I worshipped Him for Who He is. And His glory rested upon me.

In the course of a few short minutes - by stopping and taking a moment to speak directly to my Father and ask Him for understanding - I was transformed by His power from someone who didn’t know how to respond to “an attack," to someone who really wanted those 2 ladies to know that I loved them.

As I stood up and made my way out of the restaurant with my children, I kept looking at the 2 ladies. I wanted them - in such a urgent way - to make eye contact with me so that I could just say “Hi” in a way that let them know I loved them. They didn’t look up, though, and the Lord hadn’t given me liberty to speak to them first, so I went on past them, loving them all the same.

I have been hurt. I have hurt other people. You have known both, too. Jesus wants the wounds in all of our hearts - even those of people whom we have never met or those who innocently attack us - to be healed. He wants our covetousness to be transformed into love. He wants our fear to be defeated and converted into faith. He wants our anger to dissipate into zeal. He wants us all to know the love of our Father, who adores us without ceasing. He wants us all to know Father’s presence, and the healing that is there.

Our Father God has caused me to want these things by teaching me daily and, when I obey Him, I am seeing love and faith and zeal come to pass to His glory.

Grandpa was on to something about things being relative, I guess. But it’s no good to be locked in the bathroom with all its perks all the while knowing that others are outside suffering. Neither is it any good to be locked out of the bathroom, feeling alone and abandoned, feeling as though some have been blessed while we have not.

There’s only one thing that’s good. What’s good is to be free through the power of our Father God. It’s good to be free to come and go as we move through this life at His bidding, and to ever remain in the glorious light of His presence.

Our Father. Our Father. That’s the only “relative” we need. Our Father.


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Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16

NOTE: This posting is a copyrighted writing by the author, published on this blog with their express consent. You may not re-publish this writing (including in blogs or e-mailings) without the express, written consent of the author. You may obtain such permission by contacting Nameless Faceless Love via e-mail.

Corrupt Communication

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This post is from a dear Sister in the Midwest. It is a no-gloss, genuine writing about a matter with which many believers struggle; corrupt communication. In other words, talking and thinking badly about other people.

We are thankful for people like this believer who are ready and willing at our Lord's prompting to share the intimate - and sometimes not so flattering - details of the actual journey with Christ.

Because of their humility, we are encouraged that we are not alone in our journey, and find hope in the answers they have received from God as they sought to deal with issues in their lives that many of us face.

Another Sister in Christ, Patsy Clairmont, talks about how she felt like her "clay vessel" was all cracked. Then one day, she says, our Lord acknowledged that there were cracks in her vessel, but then asked her, "Where do people see My light shining from when they look at you, Patsy?"

The answer was clear and life-changing; people could see His light in her because it was shining out to them through the cracks.

Because of believers like the author of this post, who share some of the "cracks" in their vessel and how God heals those up even as He allows His Light to shine through them, we are all better for having learned from God through them.

Lately I have been quite stressed -- I mean really stressed about some things going on in my life and on my job. I know all the bible verses to lean on and what I should do, but just like Peter was on the night that Jesus was arrested, I was just in a rotten state of mind. Somehow we know what we should do, but we let our emotions take over and cause us to take a slight detour into the wilderness. I know how Peter must have felt because he even began to curse out the little girl. I didn't curse out any children, but I have to admit that I have probably cursed more in the past few weeks than I have in a long time. I even remember saying to [someone] yesterday that I was out of control and needed to get some alone time on the sidelines with the Lord because I knew that I was spinning out of control.

Each morning I have prayed forgiveness and for the Holy Spirit to help me to "keep my cool today". But it is short lived. I have been having a short fuse and it didn't take much to set it off. Everything and everybody got on my nerves -- even the dog!

I cherish the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. I need Him every day and depend upon Him to keep me on track. He is my very best friend. One of the secrets of this journey that I have learned is that you must have alone time with the Holy Spirit or your life will be shipwrecked. You will find yourself crashing into the rocks through every storm if you don't have that relationship with Him. It is vital that you set aside time with Him every day to get the game plan for the day.

The bible says that in the presence of God there is joy and peace. I can always tell when I am not in His presence because my life is out of balance. Something is not quite right. It's like having on two left shoes. When I am in His presence, even when my life is upside down, He gives me a peace to get through it. But He withdraws His Presence when I choose to be ugly and let my fleshly thoughts rule me. When I am being prideful and self-centered, I feel a heaviness and everything seems to go wrong. I just feel ugly.

The bible says in Hosea 5:5 - "I will go and return to My place till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me early."

When I say that the Holy Spirit withdraws His presence, I am not saying that He leaves us or forsakes us. He promised to never do that in His Word. But the presence of His joy and peace is lifted from our lives when we choose not to be obedient to His Word, or do things that are sinful. Its like when one of the partners of a marriage becomes offended at something the other partner said or did. It doesn't end the marriage, but there is a strain there. The atmosphere changes. That's what it is like when we offend the Holy Spirit. It strains our relationship with Him because He is offended. But what great joy! Because the bible says He is open to be reconciled with us if we will acknowledge our wrong doing and seek Him for forgiveness.

Well, the Holy Spirit woke me up this morning because He was offended at my speech and behavior these days. I have had accusatory and unflattering conversations about others, I have allowed my anger to cause me to lose balance, and I have not used my words to edify others. I’ve really been the Grinch to put it mildly.

The Holy Spirit told me this morning, “You have offended Me”. When you called your boss those names and you talked about your coworkers….and He went on and on and on down the list. I said in my defense, “Well, what I said was true!”. Then the Holy Spirit said, “Yes, but I heard you and you have spoken destructive words about people who are precious to Me.”

Then the Holy Spirit said to me, “Words are important to Me. Your conversations matter to Me. When you engage in corrupt behavior and corrupt communication, it grieves and offends Me.”

Then the Holy Spirit prompted me to open my Amplified Bible Ephesians 4:29-32, which reads:

“Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word, nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it….

As I squirmed and swallowed hard, knowing that I had really blown it just in the first verse…the passage continued to read,

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him}, by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

Then I sat back and said to the Holy Spirit, “Holy Spirit, you know that I am not trying to hear this, but I know this is you because I am guilty. Let’s read on…”

Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive and blasphemous language) be banished from you with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind)…

Ouch, ouch, ouch!!! I have done all of these things in the past few weeks. Read on…

“And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely] as God in Christ forgave you.”

Then I said, “Holy Spirit, I know this is you because in my flesh I don’t want to do these things but I know that you are holy and to be holy goes against what my flesh desires.” Then I repented for every offense.

One of the biggest things I learned out of this was the unending grace of God being extended to me a helpless sinner. I was busted and was guilty of every charge set before me this morning. Yet, God dealt with me gently, with love and compassion, which is far less than I dealt with those that had offended me.

But don’t be fooled. God dealt mercifully with me today. If I had chosen to stay on the path I was on, He would have given me more chances to turn around and eventually would have taken me across His knee and spanked me really good! The bible teaches us that God chastens those that are His and those that He loves.

One of the last things I did this morning was to thank the Holy Spirit for correcting me. You see, if the Holy Spirit is correcting you, then you can know for sure that you are His. But if you are living a life where there is never any conviction of sin, something is definitely wrong and maybe you aren’t really saved. Something to think about.

Anyway, I wanted to share this message with you to encourage you in your walk with the Lord.

He Left Us His Example

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“Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like the United States.”

When Rosie O’Donnell made these recent comments, it provoked outrage among many Christians. George Barna even conducted a poll about the comments and its impact upon Americans of various faiths or no faith at all.

In his research, Barna identified that most Americans disagreed with Rosie’s view. He also identified that few Americans felt that her comments were appropriate for a national television broadcast.

Then, in summarizing his comments on the context of the opinions expressed in the survey, Barna concludes with this statement:

“Finally, the fact that so few adults who consider themselves to be Christian felt that they were even owed an apology speaks volumes about the self-image of Christians and the centrality of their faith in their life.”

Does Rosie owe Christians an apology?

It seems that we Christians spend a lot of time asking those who do not know Christ to act in the manner that we believe Christians should. Never mind the hypocrisy that those who do not share our Christian faith see in us at times. Rather, consider for a moment, if you will, Christians standing in their backyards, speaking to their family cat, and saying, “C’mon, kitty. Bark.”

Ridiculous, isn’t it? Just like us expecting people who do not have Christ to act, think and speak righteously. Hey, there’s days when we don’t even act, think or speak righteously. Why are we asking the unsaved kitties in our lives to bark?

Some may say that it’s different with Rosie because she holds such influence in our culture. Perhaps we need to do some of the same soul-searching of our own hearts that some are demanding that Rosie make. Are we more concerned with Rosie’s eternity, or with how she - acting, thinking and speaking in a genuine representation of who she currently is - might influence other people’s opinion of Jesus or “us Christians.” Jesus can take care of Himself. We need to check our egos at the door, and develop the same compassion that our Savior has for Rosie.

I appreciate and respect George Barna and his work. I am not writing about him. I am writing about us - Christians. Those who profess to be disciples of Christ. And so, if you profess to be a disciple of Christ and you disagree with what I have written to this point, I ask you to consider this:

Jesus did not ask anyone for an apology. Ever. Not once. Rather, He prayed that our Father would forgive them. Why? Because they didn’t know what they were doing.

It would be so easy to say that the professional killers who whipped and beat and nailed Jesus to the Cross knew exactly what they were doing. But Jesus didn’t consider their actions, thoughts, or speech. Jesus knew better. He didn’t ask those “unsaved kitties to bark,” even though they were killing Him in an unimaginably painful and humiliating manner.

He left us an example of how we’re to behave, especially when we’re wrongfully accused or mistreated. God’s Word clearly tells us how we’re to behave when things like Rosie’s comments occur in our lives. We’re to behave - just as so many of us who profess to be His disciples say that we aspire to - like Jesus did:

For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps:
"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:19-25

So many times in my Christian life, I have not responded in the manner described above. The longer I allowed it to go on in my heart and life, the more He allowed it to break my heart. I still sometimes feel self-defensiveness and pride attempt to rise up within me when I feel that I have been wronged. That’s when I need to go to Jesus, ask Him to heal my heart, and help me to act, think and speak with the same measure of grace that has been given unto me. I am not perfect in this, but I am so humbled by what Christ has done for me that I very much want to be. I am thankful for God’s mercy for me when I am not.

Jesus spoke it so clearly to me, for me. “If you’re not free from the effects of persecution, how can you do what I'm asking you to do?”

Father, I ask You to let me see the potential lamb in front of me whenever I stand before one who is as yet unsaved. Help me to see past their actions, thoughts and speech, as I have needed to ask You to forgive some of my own actions, thoughts and speech. Help me to remember in every moment and every situation just how sweet Your salvation is, and just how precious it is to know You and be known by You. Help me - within the depths of my heart - to truly and deeply desire what You desire; that all would repent and be reconciled unto You.

As I have written this, you have placed a great love in my heart for Rosie. That love is born of You, not me, and I know this. From within that love, I ask You not that You would cause Rosie to stop acting, thinking and speaking as she is. Rather, I ask that You would find a way, if there is any way, to demonstrate Your love for Rosie to her so that she, too, would come to know Your love and walk with You all of her days.

She's just one of Your missing children, Father. Please let her be found, just as You found me.

That You might receive all the glory......

I ask all of this in Jesus’ name......Amen.