My Little Devotional #178: “Chilling Out”

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Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, Church, community, despair, devotional, empathy, encouragement, faith, God, hope, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, Road to Friendship, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lulamoon

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Road to Friendship”

As you may have noticed, I spent a long time trying to think up a message for this one. I ended up having to watch the episode again for the review before I saw something that struck me.

My head had been going over and over this episode, but I only focused on the arguments between Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon when their attempt at a road trip for Trixie’s show degenerated into a nightmare due to their constant missteps and disagreements. The second time I watched it, however, I noticed something different. Although their entire trip was plagued with misfortune, it wasn’t until later in the trip that the misfortune actually became a problem. Early on, especially through the more dangerous legs, the two remained friendly and on good terms while working together. As a result, the trip actually went, from their perspective, very smoothly. In fact, later in the episode, when Starlight tried to go the same way alone, she realized she didn’t notice how hard and miserable the trek was before when she had Trixie along.

That, in turn, made me think of a different message.

As you may have guessed from earlier devotionals, I am anything but a “social butterfly”. I tend to prefer my own company, that of my family, or one-on-one interactions with friends. That being said, I know the value of having a friend to talk to and be at your side. I’m sure there are people out there, especially young people, who will maintain that there are some individuals out there ideally suited to a solitary existence or being loners. At this point in my life I no longer believe that; especially not for the majority of people. Whether you consider things from a biological perspective or a Biblical perspective, humans are made to be social creatures. Even if one tends to enjoy being alone, there are times where they need human contact to feel validated, accepted, appreciated, or encouraged. People need relationships and communication with others in order to grow and, in some cases, even to challenge them to become more than what they are alone. And, as this episode illustrated, having a friend by your side can always make a terrible situation more bearable.

Even in the earliest parts of the Bible, the Creation in Genesis, it points out how the first human was unhappy in spite of having the favor and friendship of God and all the creatures in creation as companions. It wasn’t until God created a second human that he felt satisfied, because now he had a relationship with another person (Genesis 2:18-24). Likewise, there are several references in the Old Testament to the need for friends and companions and the virtues of having one.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” (Ecclesiates 4:9-10)

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)

Furthermore, while there are many strong men and women of the Bible who exemplify virtue, very few of them ever operated completely alone. Moses had his assistant Joshua and his brother Aaron. David had many upstanding warriors and counselors in his service that stuck with him through thick and thin. Even Elijah, a prophet who had to do most of his own mighty work alone, had a protege and successor named Elisha who followed him everywhere.

Yet the true emphasis on the dependency upon others, to me, is not until the New Testament. The Church community that Lord Jesus died for is often referred to as “the Body of Christ”; indicating that the community itself (empowered by the Holy Spirit) is the true means by which Christ moves and acts in the world now. While the need for repentance and conversion is on the individual level, the life of the Christian from then onward is often emphasized as their place in the Church and in working together with other Christians.

While it’s not as much of an issue in the Western World, one of the most important roles of the Church both in the Bible as well as in countries where Christians face persecution (and can be hurt or even killed with impunity and no legal recourse) is simply to act as support for one another. But even in places where this is not true, the role of the Church is vital to the Christian’s well being. When a Christian is feeling discouraged, it’s up to the community to build them up and encourage them to keep going. When they’re dealing with trouble or fears, it’s the community’s job to comfort and strengthen them. When they feel they are called to an insurmountable task or ministry that grows overwhelming and taxes them to their limits, it’s the community’s job to bear their portion of the load and to provide emotional as well as physical support.

Most of all, when a Christian is going through depression, feels no answer from God or his presence, and is plagued with doubts, despair, and thoughts of abandonment or self-destruction, it’s the mission of the Church to be there for that person. Not necessarily with any inspiring quotes or verses or anecdotes, but to simply be present and weep with them.

As the Church is the “Body of Christ”, so is it its duty to represent Christ “in the body” to all of these individuals. To let them know His presence is there because they are there. There is no overstating the importance, both for the Christian and for everyone, of how great it is to know that someone is there mourning with you; validating both your pain and suffering as well as you being worthy of consolation and concern.

As this episode pointed out, even if it doesn’t actually resolve the difficulties in your life, simply knowing that someone will always be there at your side for the ride, to pick you up when you’re down or cheer you when you’re feeling miserable…or simply just to go with you the whole way no matter how long or dreary…makes all the difference in the world. It makes the tasks and trials we must face not only seem more bearable but, in some cases, even possible to overcome. It’s small wonder that Jesus Himself pointed out the value of having just one friend by your side to feel His presence. “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

The analogy that I saw in a different message once is a fireplace filled with hot coals, in which one is removed and set alone by itself. The coal may remain hot for a time, but eventually it will cool and become dull, lifeless ash. It’s only when it’s brought in contact with others that are “on fire” that it regains its own heat and blazes forth. In the same way, when an individual is feeling discouraged, defeated, or their own faith has “grown cold”, it’s through the community of believers in the Church, whether that be a group or simply another faithful individual and friend, that their flames are reignited, their spirits are restored, and their hope is renewed.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord Jesus, thank you not only for your assurance to always be at my side no matter what, but for all the times that others have been at my side and helped me continue when I felt at my lowest or like quitting. Please help me today to act in the same way. Whenever I see someone beset with loneliness, despair, or hopelessness, help me to be a true friend who will stay by their side just as I know you always stay by mine, and grant that we may bear each other’s loads and keep each other’s ‘fires burning’. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

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My Little Devotional #177: “Minimum Qualifications”

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availability, Bible, calling, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, faith, God, inspirational, Jesus, mission, motivational, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, righteousness, Yakity-Sax

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Yakity-Sax”

I’d like to think most of us at some point in our lives will find ourselves in Pinkie Pie’s shoes; namely in doing something that we personally love but aren’t necessarily terribly good at it (or possibly even a bit bad). While a great deal of this episode focuses on Pinkie’s depression on realizing she isn’t any good at something she likes and her friends responding to it, when considering a message for this episode I focused on the resolution.

While Pinkie was definitely upset to hear from her friends that she wasn’t pretty tone deaf when it came to playing the yovidaphone, the real reason for her depression was because she realized that she was bad at playing it, and it wasn’t simply a matter of opinion. And as a result, she was more than understandably nervous to want to play the instrument in front of a yurt full of yaks as, demonstrated time and again in the series, they tend to go ballistic when you try doing any of their traditions and not make it absolutely perfect. Nevertheless, encouraged by her friends to do it as something she loved, she ended up most unexpectedly getting a round of cheers from the audience as it turned out the true spirit of playing the yovidaphone “perfectly” is doing it in a way that makes one happy. In that case, even not being good at that particular talent turned out to not matter; only that Pinkie made the effort to play.

Most of my devotionals have focused on the idea that people are ideally unique and made for certain situations, and that the call of God and what he wants us to do with our lives from day to day will often reflect what talents or aptitudes we possess. However, I want to stress that while I believe God will never call us to do something that we can’t handle provided we trust in him, he won’t necessarily always call us to do something that we feel we can handle with or without him.

While I highly doubt most of us will ever be called to do something incredibly stupendous and totally contrary to anything we have ever done or experienced in the least, to the point where the only way we could possibly pull it off would be divine intervention (like, for example, me being called to perform triple bypass surgery when I haven’t the slightest idea how to operate on anything), as early as the book of Genesis God makes it clear that what he really wants out of people is obedience…the willingness to make oneself available to God for him to use. It’s not raw talent, a person’s bearing, or how influential or powerful they are that God desires. It’s the ability to submit to him and his Will when he wants to make use of you. Furthermore, God also emphasizes that he desires individuals such as that more than those who are able, because it is when God acts through them, through people who seem to have no ability or fortitude that makes them stand out or capable of anything special, that he truly manifests his power.

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

There are several Biblical examples of this. Big ones include King David, who started off as the youngest (and therefore least-favored) of the sons of Jesse (1 Samuel 16:1-13). There was the judge Gideon who, by his own admission, was the “lowest of the low” in Israel (Judges 6:11-16). Amos the prophet was a sheep herder and a fig farmer (Amos 7:14-15). Among the Apostles there were a variety of non-religion-based occupations, like fisherman (Matthew 4:18-22), tax collector (Matthew 9:9), and even revolutionary (Luke 6:15). Jesus Himself was considered a carpenter (Mark 6:5), and His mother was a poor girl (Luke 1-2).

And of course, earliest of all, there was Abraham. While he was a man of considerable wealth, he was told by God to pack up and leave everything he knew behind so that he could become a “father of nations” when, at the age of 100 and by pretty much all accounts well past “dead”, he was still childless. Why did God end up blessing him? Abraham lived prior to the Mosaic Law and the ministry of Jesus, so there were no commands from God to keep or established sacrifices to present. In Abraham’s case, what made him a blessing, what made him the father of the faiths of most of the world today, what indeed gave him billions of descendants (either directly or through adoption of religion), was simply because he had faith in God’s blessing.

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

He went where God told him and he did what God told him to do, even when he had to go somewhere he didn’t know and was told to kill his own long-sought-after son. In the end, God credited it as righteousness simply that Abraham was willing to go on nothing but faith. And that righteousness had a lasting impact to this day.

So while I have talked in great detail about God matching us to who we are and our talents, I don’t want to leave this behind. The message for today is that God ultimately desires obedience and surrendering to his Will, even in times where we are nervous and uncertain. Ultimately, if God is telling us to do something, then we have a confidence that so long as we commit to be available that it will work out both for our good and the Kingdom of God.

Remember…while it might be true in many situations that there are people who would have greater aptitude for a task, be bolder, stronger, more well-spoken, or any of a host of other things where we find ourselves called, those people aren’t the ones in that situation. It’s us, and it’s our responsibility to make ourselves available when it happens.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your Word, which assures us that when we are called to do something beyond our power and seemingly beyond hope, all you truly require of us is to trust in you and step out. Please help me to cling to this when fears, doubts, and anxieties hold me back from doing your Will. By the grace of God, I choose to always make myself available and step out boldly in faith when you call me. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #176: “Wake Up!”

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bias, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, criticism, devotional, God, grudges, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, self-awareness, self-deception, self-improvment, truth, viewpoint

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “The End in Friend”

In this episode, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, triggered by an argument as to the validity of their friendship when they seemed to have nothing in common, ended up quite upset at one another and their hostility threatened to drive a wedge between them. To try and get the two to find common ground, Twilight suggested that they use one thing they mutually liked, reading, to do a book swap with one another in an attempt to get them to abandon their squabbling and reconnect.

However, both were mad at each other and, as many foolishly do, worked to keep their grudge going instead of turning toward reconciliation. Rather than even actually read the assigned book, let alone put any effort into the exercise to try and understand one another, both simply made a preconceived judgment about the selections that justified their own opinions, stood behind it, and even defended it as genuine criticism. At that point, one could hardly even argue that they had an opinion that was defendable. It was simply unreasonably hating something to begin with and shutting out any attempt to get them to think otherwise. Frankly, it was an act of being pigheaded on both of their parts.

There’s an urban lingo term thrown out around a lot nowadays…the idea of being “woke”. The term is a throwback to the movie “The Matrix” in which the majority of people on Earth are blind to the fact they are living out a digital computer simulation while being kept in suspended animation, and that when they “wake up” they become aware of how the world really is. What it means to actual society is the idea of someone becoming aware of how something really works or is when society/media/others say it functions a different way. (It’s somewhat analogous to the older term: “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid”, implying not to just go with the flow and buy into whatever people tell you about something.) Often this applies to cases of alleged racism, sexism, political bias, classism, etc.

Among the millennial generation, of which I am a member, “being woke” is a prized status symbol. Being woke, or aware of an incident of racism, sexism, political bias, classism, etc., that was “cleverly disguised” as being fully innocuous or normal, is considered to be a high point for one’s intellect. A person is smart enough to see the proverbial man behind the curtain. They are enlightened enough to realize what this is doing to other people. Most importantly, they are upstanding enough to present this “horrendous evil” to society so that it can be rooted out, and even better if they organize large public outcry about it. In other words, while on the surface this may appear to be purely public action or protest, it’s also a very uplifting and personally gratifying thing for those involved as it demonstrates to others how much more aware, upstanding, forward-thinking, and proactive they are.

The left gets the most flak for this nowadays, but really I’ve seen it on both sides of the political spectrum. (Honestly? If you want to see more of one or the other just get the opposite party into the White House…) To me, it all stems from the same thing I’ve hit on before: modern Internet culture. Everyone believes their opinion is worth more than it is and prizes people responding to it. The best way to make your opinion stand out is if it’s unique; and the easiest way to get it to be unique is to find some wrong in the world, whether it’s there or not, and shout about it.

I’m not trying to make the case that all of this is unjustified. Furthermore, the fact that a minority of people are particularly loud and even violent about it is no excuse for the majority of people to remain apathetic. What I am wanting to draw attention to, however, is how many of these individuals justify themselves; which ties into this episode. No one really cares about a fact that “is mostly correct, but occasionally doesn’t apply” or an injustice that’s only alleged. Likewise, no one wants to point out that they formed an opinion on something which is better in some ways and worse than others compared to what’s happening right now. People want to be right. They want to be fully justified. They want to have the one answer. They want to be the side that’s on top of things and not the side that’s stupid and clueless.

That leads to how modern debate goes about these sorts of things, if you can even call it that. Protesters, demonstrators, and proponents of an idea have no interest whatsoever in pointing out where their particular idea falls a little flat, talking about the tradeoffs, or seeing if there’s an element of their idea that applies and not the rest–let alone compromise. They don’t bother with the opposite side, and, in most people’s minds, they don’t have to. They believe they’re right already and that the other is wrong.

In this situation, when someone believes they are in the right and has some animosity toward an opposing viewpoint, debating with them usually not only doesn’t work but can’t work. That’s because people ignore anything good about the opposing viewpoint and embrace every bit of criticism and bad they can find and form their whole mental framework around that. Everything else is mentally excluded at the point of hearing it. Through a series of logical fallacies, they pardon away all other evidence that opposes their view and cement so much in their minds that such is reality that eventually they deceive themselves into thinking there isn’t an alternative viewpoint at all…just idiots who know nothing and people like themselves who are “woke”.

Worse yet, they do just the opposite with favorable evidence for their own point of view and let it all in without filtering or judgment. This is even if it’s based on nothing or is a bold-faced lie. I see this all the time on social media. As you may have guessed, I’m a conservative by nature as is most of my family, but some of the things they re-post as supposed “bombshells” or breaking reports are blatant misinformation. Some are clear photoshops while others are statistics that were pulled out of thin air or outright made-up fables. I don’t really care if they supposedly “support” my viewpoint when they’re blatant, obvious lies, as that not only doesn’t support my viewpoint but casts my viewpoint into doubt for people at large, but they go ahead and post them anyway simply because it justifies their thinking. And since they’re right, then anything that supports their view, even if it’s nothing but tripe, must also be right. Meanwhile, any genuine article that is against their viewpoint, even if backed with proper information and source, is either excused away or declared “just a lie”. It must be fake, because it doesn’t support their view, and therefore isn’t worth even considering.

As I’ve said several times before, we do not see the world as it is but as we are. If we choose to see something as good we will tend to overlook anything bad associated with it, whereas if we choose to see something as bad we will ignore anything good associated with it…all so that it perfectly fits our view of it. We’ll even claim the same is reality as I just illustrated. This sort of delusional thinking can lead to a lot worse than angry social media blogs and protesting. It can lead to totally warped senses of reality and even violent actions; all of which are assumed to be appropriate and justified. (Look no further than a group like Antifa, who prides themselves as being against any form of hate, violence, and intolerance…and uses hate, violence, and intolerance to supposedly “combat” the same.)

For the Christian, while there is always an element of social justice and a need to call out sin, in particular in individuals who are trying to justify themselves or behaviors for society at large, Lord Jesus had an emphasis on personal holiness and resolving the sin in one’s own life first. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5) This was especially true for those who claimed to be justified or “holy” without acknowledging their own evils and wrongdoing (see Matthew 23:1-33 for a lengthy condemnation of the self-righteous by Jesus). In the preceding passage, when taken with the Gospels as a whole, I want to point out that the priority is not so much on not condemning evil, but instead in being cognizant of one’s own evil as well. To not be so meticulous about finding what others are doing wrong that you ensure you are blind to what you yourself are doing wrong.

And that makes sense, because ultimately the only people we ever have control over is ourselves. And only to the degree that we are mature and complete will we be able to see not only the world clearly but also form relationships with others that are mature and complete, including with God. Most importantly, we will only see truth in regards to how much we keep our “lenses” free of warping, including truth God is trying to reveal to us.

Odds are if you ever hear criticism about your opinions or even behavior, your instincts are going to be to not take it well even if it’s justified. Particularly if it’s about a strong political or moral opinion you have. Admitting to yourself and acknowledging that you probably won’t like what you are about to hear can go a long way toward resolving your own bias; even if you don’t end up agreeing with it in the end. Owning up and taking control of one’s feelings and prejudgments is not only an important standard for a Christian, but for any mature adult. That means using our reason and self-discipline to realize when we truly see something that either supports or counters our strong opinions and when we are simply selectively listening to the messages that we want to hear, no matter how pleasant or unpleasant.

And that’s the kind of “woke” we could all stand to be.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your Word, which emphasizes the need to never be so preoccupied with recognizing evil in others that we fail to recognize it in ourselves first. Where I have grown blind, ignorant, or have ‘fallen asleep’ in regards to my own wrongdoing or lack of ‘rightdoing’, please help me to awaken to that and enact the changes I need to make to better serve you and others. No matter how painful and uncomfortable it may be. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

My Little Devotional #174: “Subbing In”

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atonement, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, death, devotional, God, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, reconciliation, redemption, sacrifice, salvation, sin, The Hearth's Warming Club

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “The Hearth’s Warming Club”

In this episode, a student purposely vandalized the School of Friendship on the eve of Hearth’s Warming, when all of the “international” students were eager to get home for their respective festivities. Angry at this, Headmare Twilight Sparkle threatened the group of students with being forced to stay over break for remedial friendship lessons unless the true culprit either confessed or was found. The one responsible, Gallus Griffon, did the deed as he had neither a home nor family to go to for the holidays and considered his own friends his family, and therefore did this to hopefully get them to stay longer and spend more time with him. Yet on hearing them get angry over missing their respective holidays and accuse each other, he realized he was hurting them and confessed everything.

While Twilight definitely felt sympathy for him and appreciated him coming forward, she stated that nevertheless he still had to face the punishment for what he had done. He still would incur the penalty of having to stay over break for remedial lessons. However, his classmates, on seeing how lonely he was, purposely volunteered to share his punishment so that he wouldn’t have to be by himself that holiday. As a result, Twilight decided they didn’t need the remedial lessons after all and invited them all to spend Hearth’s Warming with her.

What does all of this have to do with Christianity?

One of the big questions non-Christians might ask in regards to Christianity is why mankind needs a savior at all. Why Jesus? If God is truly all-powerful, truly has the ability to write the laws of the universe, and, perhaps most importantly, is truly all-loving, then why can he not just bring everyone into Heaven? Or, at minimum, if they ended up doing more good things in their life than bad, or are really sorry and tried to make up for anything bad they did; i.e. they’re a “good” person, why can’t that be sufficient for entry into Heaven?

In this episode, Gallus did what he did out of feelings of loneliness and unhappiness. It was a bit selfish and thoughtless, but it was also understandable, and once he realized the impact it had on his friends he confessed and was truly sorry. Nevertheless, although she understood and sympathized, Twilight wouldn’t let him off the hook. She had stated that there would be consequences for what had happened, and she wouldn’t go back on them regardless of the circumstances.

Similarly, in the Old Testament, God gave mankind, through the Israelites, the Mosaic Law. The Law set out everything that was good and everything that was evil, with the instruction that if you were able to keep the Law perfectly then you would be a “good person” and would receive eternal life (Leviticus 18:5), but whoever violated it would one day die for their violation, or sin (Deuteronomy 27:26).  However, no one was able to keep the Law or is able to keep the Law, because the Law is perfect just as God is perfect, but people are not.

Jesus Himself pointed out just how hard it was to keep the Law during His time on Earth. That to be able to keep it actually meant going far beyond just following the literal interpretation but inward to one’s very thoughts, heart, and even nature…something no human being can carry out.

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22). “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-30)

So since everyone will eventually violate the law and be susceptible to its judgment, all are doomed to die for their sin and spend eternity separated from God in Hell.

Also similarly, God is indeed all-loving and understands us completely, but, like Twilight in her role of headmare, he can’t just ignore wrongdoing. God is perfect and just and he created a perfect order, including what is good and what is evil. For God to truly be perfectly just, good must be good and evil must be evil regardless of extenuating circumstances, motives, or regret. If God fails to reward good or punish evil, he is no longer just and no longer God, and good and evil themselves are purely arbitrary. Therefore, all people are doomed because of their own sins, because they cannot keep the law and the law demands that all who violate it be punished for it, and God must enforce this for the law to be perfect.

However, in this episode, the rest of the Student Six sympathized with Gallus so much that they volunteered to take his punishment on themselves for his sake. As a result of that, Twilight considered the conditions of the punishment satisfied, and what was supposed to be Gallus’ sentence for what he did ended up alleviating his loneliness and desire for a “family” for the holidays.

Similarly to this, God provided a way “around” this mortal dilemma in the form of his Son, Jesus Christ. A key part of the Mosaic Law is the idea of “sacrifice”; the ability to atone for minor misdemeanors and infractions that weren’t mortal by offering a sacrifice of equivalent value in its place (usually presented by a priest in the form of a sacrificial calf, goat, or the like). Once the sacrifice is offered, the terms of the law are fulfilled, and an individual is now “clean” with God. Hence, if the punishment for sin is death, then if a person was able to offer a sacrifice equivalent to their own life to be put to death in their place, God would now consider them clean and just in his sight because the terms of punishment would have been fulfilled. However, there was no sacrifice of equivalent value for a person’s life because all other people also sin and therefore need sacrifices of their own…at least until Jesus Christ came to Earth.

Jesus was fully mortal, and while fully mortal lived a perfect life according to the Mosaic Law. He fulfilled all terms of it and was considered pleasing and perfect in God’s eyes and eligible for the eternal life it brought. However, He, sympathizing with humanity and its plight just as God did, instead carried out God’s will by allowing Himself to be put to an unjust death. He was never eligible for death because He lived perfectly according to God, but He submitted to it so that He could die in place of all others who had committed sin. In doing so, He became the sacrificial offering for all mankind and cleared their records with God. “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12) “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2).

Just as Twilight now saw Gallus’ record “clear” because of the rest of the students taking his punishment on themselves, God now sees everyone who accepts Jesus’ sacrificial offering in their place as “clear” according to the law. In his eyes, that person now lives as if they too have never committed any sin, and are now able to share in eternal life as well (once their own bodies are subject to mortal death just as Jesus’ own was before He inherited eternal life).

“‘Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?’

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

This is the core of Christianity, the idea that separated it from its Judaic roots and why we preach the sacrifice of Lord Jesus. His gift is now free to all. The obligations of the law and the insurmountable task of living a perfect life has already been fully satisfied by Him. The only thing that remains for us is whether or not we wish to accept that sacrifice. If you are interested in doing so, you can through the following.

Click here.

Otherwise, if you have already accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you might try praying the following.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, I can never thank you enough for the matchless, perfect, and incomparable gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, by whom and for whom I now am freed from sin and have eternal life. Please grant that I may live for Him today and share this gift with all others. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #170: “Shed My Skin”

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Bible, change, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, God, inspirational, Jesus, Molt Down, molting, motivational, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, new life, New Testament, Old Testament, resurrection, sacrifice, salvation, sanctification

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Molt Down”

In this episode, Spike undergoes a bit of a transformation in which, after an assortment of uncomfortable and awkward physical problems, he molted to become a winged dragon. Getting there wasn’t an easy time. Not only did he suffer a large amount of physical stress through the process, he had to suffer from emotional and mental stress as well when he realized the scent he was giving off would attract all manner of violent beasts–making him a threat to others around him. In other words, the old adege of “change is painful” definitely held true here. The only way he could get the benefit of his new winged self was through a tremendous ordeal that left him discarding his outer skin in a gray pile on the ground.

While this change was physical and the situation was rather outlandish compared to real life, it does have some real implications for the idea of “change” and even Christianity.

It’s not unusual for people to use the term “shed my skin” when talking about going through a major change to their demeanor, outlook, or even personality. That ties into the same topic covered in this episode and in the world of biology: “molting”. In nature, many creatures that don’t periodically lose skin or hair (like we do) but instead shed it all at once go through the process of molting. Normally it’s associated with reaching a new life cycle or a time of growth, such as once a year when food is plentiful or scarce to allow it. There are a variety of kinds of actions that could be considered “molting”. The most extreme example could take place in butterflies. In their case, once the larva is large enough its skin will split and the “insides” will wriggle out as a new pupa. Yet those, in turn, will solidify and harden only to be split and discarded by its insides, which is a new adult butterfly. However, there’s much lesser examples, such as birds shedding their bright “breeding plumage” during the winter to look duller and harder for predators to find, deer shedding a thicker winter coat during the spring, or snakes, when big enough, going through the long process of rubbing against rocks to peel off their old skin.

Humans, in fact, do “molt” all the time, but it’s gradual and not dramatic. (We only shed hair and skin cells periodically rather that all in one go.) But whether it’s humans, birds, or caterpillars, the very idea of molting is an interesting concept. Essentially, animals must let their old bodies die, sometimes their old ways of life as well (such as how a caterpillar is concerned with eating and growing while a butterfly is concerned with breeding), in order to enter the next phase of life. When that happens, their old selves are literally cast off like so much rubbish.

That gets into today’s message. This central idea behind the process of molting is likewise true for Christianity and the idea of being “born again”.

Jesus emphasized the idea of being “born again from above” early in His ministry, and then (as it does now in some cases) it led to a great deal of confusion. As evidenced in his talk with Nicodemus, some people took it in the literal sense of the current physical body.

“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’ ‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!'” (John 3:3-4)

Jesus was, in fact, talking about the spiritual body. Sin is corrupting. It’s evil, it’s wicked, it brings pain, sadness, and sickness, and ultimately is brings death both physically and spiritually (Romans 6:23a). This nature of it caused some of the Apostles to term it “corruptibility” or perishability–an innate corruption in the body that is passed on and inherited from one generation to the next through all of humanity. The reason we die is because we sin, and sin is a part of mortal existence and inescapable as DNA. Part of the “broken” human condition and part of life.

When Jesus Christ came to the world, he came in a purely human body that was subject to all physical stresses, strains, toils, tears, and cares all people face; only in His case He endured it all but committed no sin. In doing so, He became the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. When He was unjustly put to death on Calvary, He paid the price for your sins, my sins, and everyone else’s past, present, and future. But to accomplish that, His own physical body was destroyed–taking on our nature that leads to inevitable death and destruction and suffering in full for all of the evils of the world simultaneously placed upon Him. However, because of His sinlessness, He was resurrected and came back to a new and glorious eternal life completely opposed to the rules and conditions of the previous body. All that was weak, mortal, and subjected to the pain, sadness, sickness, and death of this world was now liberated from it forever.

In the same way, Jesus has promised the same for all who accept His offer to take away their sins and become their personal Lord and Savior. Just as Jesus had a mortal body but His Spirit was from God and eternal, in the same way those that accept His Gift will cast off their own corrupted, perishable selves when their own physical suffering and death is at an end and will gain the same eternal life. And just as Jesus’ own mortal body passed away only to be resurrected in an incorruptible eternal life, the same will happen to all who put their faith in Him.

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:4)

“For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’

^‘Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?'” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55)

There was a wonderful picture I had in college that sadly I ended up ruining illustrating this. It was a sculpture of an iron statute “shedding” off its iron coating to reveal one made of crystal beneath it. It’s a great metaphor. Iron tarnishes, rusts, erodes, and wears away, and in order to be cast aside it has to be rent and peeled off. Yet when it’s gone, all that’s left behind is beautiful and perfect. The old state crumbles away and the new life endures.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

If you would like to experience this “shedding of skin”, there is an excellent resource for how you can do it right now right here: https://www.thoughtco.com/a-prayer-of-salvation-701284

If you are already a Christian, here is today’s suggested prayer:

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, I can never thank you enough for the wonderful gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, by whose blood and sacrifice I am now a new creation set free from sin. Now that I have the blessed assurance that I have been born again, please help me to use my life always to seek your will and live for you today and every day. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #168: “I’m Not Touching You!”

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aggression, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, God, honesty, hostility, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, New Testament, Old Testament, passive-aggressiveness, sabotage, social media, truth, undermining

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Non-Compete Clause”

To say that Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s behavior in this episode is frustrating is a bit of an understatement. Their normal competitiveness, this time taking the form of wanting to be the School of Friendship’s teacher-of-the-month, caused them to ruin both of their respective activities through their arguing and fighting. However, what was even worse and more unbearable was that after Twilight called them out on their selfish desires to get the award they began to compete for it in a different way…namely by trying to make themselves look the most gracious, friendly, and deferential so that they, in turn, would appear more selfless and therefore more deserving of the award.

Dealing with people who let competition and personal pride cause them to constantly butt heads with each other is fairly frustrating, but it can get downright unbearable when they attempt to mask it, as in this episode, under a guise of faux beneficence. That’s especially true when that sort of behavior is targeting us and, I imagine, when we find ourselves doing it to others. And even more so when this sort of behavior is somewhat or entirely subconscious. At that point, it turns into something called passive-aggressiveness.

Passive-aggression was originally classified as a mental disorder, but actually encompasses a wide variety of behaviors that anyone can produce. In layman’s terms, it’s a way of acting out in hostility and anger toward someone or something without actually acting that way. Examples include purposely procrastinating, intentionally making mistakes, disguising criticism with compliments, harboring a sullen, stubborn attitude, mentally keeping score in histories of arguments, slipping in that one “last word” as an insult, and, perhaps most prevalent in the modern age, sabotage.

The primary reason behind using passive-aggressiveness is to avoid an overt confrontation over feelings or a disagreement. Sometimes this is because the person is being devious and malicious; purposely seeking to undermine or take jabs at their opponent. In other cases, it’s not ill-intended but is rather a way to try and avoid having to face up to someone or something. In either case, however, the reasoning in the same: to avoid getting into an overt conflict and/or appearing to be an instigator, hostile, or unsociable to others. It allows a person to “be the bad guy without looking like the bad guy”. And in my opinion, at least in some cases, I believe some individuals have fooled themselves into thinking that by not being openly aggressive or hostile that somehow they aren’t being that way at all, and therefore are absolved of all wrongdoing.

This is especially true in the modern day with our access to social networking and the like. Say, for example, two friends went out to a meal and one was supposed to pay but ended up forgetting about it and only had enough to pay for themselves. Rather than confront the person about it, the other friend gets onto social media and says something like: “I learned a life lesson about how thoughtless some people can be today. It really helped me see who my real friends are and who is just taking advantage of me.” They basically just attacked their friend indirectly and exposed it for the world to see, but they can claim that they didn’t do anything and that they could have been talking about anyone because they didn’t “name names”. Or if two people are angry at one another and one gets, say, a promotion at work and announces it, they might reply: “Congratulations on the new title! I guess all the smarter people at work quit by now, huh?” When it comes to online arguing, it’s positively vitriolic. The posts are endless as everyone tries to get in the last word with that one last jibe and, in the case of Christians, they make it worse by appending a “God bless!” to the end of it as if that somehow magically makes it not an insult. (Which is why I find if you get yourself caught in one of those, the best thing to do is simply “ignore the last post”…let them get the final word without feeling the temptation to respond.)

Colossians 3:8 reads: “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” In numerous lines of the Bible I myself tend to focus on the overt actions and sins, but passages like this take it a step further and say to get rid of even the “inner” ones such as rage and malice. It’s not enough to try and just be externally “good” while you still have desires for evil and sin inside you, as this episode illustrated when Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried to work together and defer to one another yet still harbored their desire for the award inside of them. In the end, it became not only obvious but totally unbearable.

We all have a responsibility to be honest and truthful with our own feelings so that we in turn don’t act passive-aggressive ourselves as a way of hurting other people and saying we did nothing wrong. And we might not be able to control when other people are being passive-aggressive as a way of getting to us, but we all can control how we respond to it and, more importantly, keep ourselves from doing it.

As our Lord says: “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37)

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for all the opportunities for me to resolve difficult situations in my life; for they teach me discipline and help me grow in maturity and responsibility. When I am angry with my situation, grant that I may always be honest about it to myself, especially if it involves someone else, and thereby deal with my anger in a constructive way. And please help me always to respond appropriately when, either directly or subtly, a person is seeking to get the better of my own emotions. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #164: “Why, Back in My Day…”

Tags

advice, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, contentment, despair, devotional, experience, fear, fulfillment, God, Grannies Gone Wild, hopelessness, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, Rainbow Dash, unhappiness, Word of God

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Grannies Gone Wild”

Rainbow Dash learns one of life’s basic lessons in this episode about older folks: they know a thing or two. After trying to simultaneously ditch Granny Smith and her friends in Las Pegasus on “safe” activities while unsuccessfully trying to sneak a ride onto the Wild Blue Yonder for the bulk of the episode, she learns only late in the trip that the Gold Horseshoe Gals are Las Pegasus VIP members which allow them priority seating on any ride–meaning she spent a great deal of time worried for nothing because she never asked them for any help. Granted, it was likely Rainbow thought they wouldn’t be interested in the ride in the first place, but seeing as they had a lot more experience being around Las Pegasus than she did she might have bothered chancing some advice.

When all of us are growing up, we all go through that phase in our lives where we start growing more knowledgeable and self-sufficient, and at that time we look back on parents, older family members, or simply older individuals around us and figure “they just don’t get it”. We start thinking of them as outdated, obsolete, or applying a mindset of a different era to modern problems. We tend to often conclude, as is the egocentric view of most young adults, that we somehow got it right and they never did because they’re idiots from an idiot era. It not until we get a little older that we start to realize some of these older folks actually do know a thing or two, and we find ourselves going back to them for advice or, at minimum, their own experiences on things we do that are new. That’s not to say that the older generation didn’t make mistakes of their own or that they always know best, but often when it comes to things like doing home repair, buying a car, looking for a life partner, or especially raising your first child, they tend to have quite a bit of experience and know-how that we could learn something from.

The tendency to consider sources of advice obsolete and outdated isn’t limited to adult figures and older people, however. It also applies to certain traditions, beliefs, or philosophies. And among those things, for both Christians and non-Christians alike as they get older, is the Bible. And it’s a fair point to make. There are quite a lot of things in the Bible that really don’t apply anymore. One can point to the obvious being most of the Law in the Old Testament. I’m not about to ritualistically kill a bull or a goat the next time I go to Church or lose sleep over wearing clothing that’s made of two different kinds of thread.

However, there is a lot more in the context of the Bible than just that which now seems to make the bulk of the content antiquated. We aren’t living in a society that’s mostly poor with just a few rich people in power. We aren’t in an era where the only medical care we can get is prayer and animal sacrifice. At least in the Western World, we aren’t in a society where women suffer dishonor for not being able to get pregnant and are dependent on males. We aren’t surrounded by temples devoted to idols from every nation for a thousand miles. We aren’t an agrarian economy where marriage is mostly a land and business deal and children are raised up for extra farm hands or insurance on the family legacy either. Hence, critics of Christianity often raise the point that what is said in the Bible doesn’t really apply to modern society any longer, and that many of its precepts and concepts are archaic and obsolete.

I will agree that traditions and customs shouldn’t always be upheld, especially if they are only being upheld for just that–tradition and custom. That includes religious ones. There are a lot of older practices and beliefs that we would honestly all be better off without. And it is indeed true that a lot of things have changed throughout history. Technology has changed. Countries have changed. Society has changed.

But the reason so many Christians still defend the Bible and look to it for answers about people is that we believe human nature doesn’t change, whether it be now or thousands of years ago.

Everyone wants food, water, and shelter and those needs tend to take priority, but people aren’t satisfied with just having those needs met. We’re all social creatures. We all feel the need to be understood by someone else. Maybe some of us like large social gatherings and maybe we don’t, but all of us want at least one person to fully understand us and accept us for who we are. Nobody wants to be completely alone. Everyone wants to feel loved.  Everyone will eventually have to come to terms with their own mortality. Everyone will have regrets in their life and wish they had done or hadn’t done something. Everyone will go through a dark period when they feel alone or helpless without any control. And everyone will sit down one day and call into question their own worth as a human being and the value of their own lives.

Society has indeed changed, and science and technology has enabled us all to live easier, more comfortable, and more connected lives than earlier generations ever dreamed possible. But you need only look to those around you to see that none of this guarantees happiness. None of it guarantees peace of mind. None of it guarantees a feeling of self-worth. Those of us in the USA live in a land of abundance, comfort, and plenty. And yet we still deal with depression, drug addiction, alcoholism, and abuse because we still have needs that this alone doesn’t satisfy. Celebrities who make more money that I could ever dream of somehow still go bankrupt because nothing they can buy gives them happiness. Politicians who have power and respect the likes of which most of us will never come close to possessing throw it away on illicit sexual relations and affairs because it still doesn’t bring them satisfaction out of life. In spite of the fact many of us in the Western World live in reasonably safe societies where we don’t have to worry about starvation, homelessness, or joblessness, we still commit suicide because we still feel hopeless and worthless.

Christians feel these things the same as everyone else, and that is why the Word of God is as valuable to us today as it was over 2,000 years ago. We believe it holds the key for a human being to become complete and fulfilled because we believe that it was written by the Creator of human beings–that because the Bible is the Word of God itself that it holds the key to having not only a fulfilling life in this world but in the next one to come.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” (Matthew 4:4)

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

I can’t speak for every Christian, but for me personally the various things of this world often do leave me temporarily enthused, happy, or entertained, but they don’t grant me fulfillment and they don’t satisfy my desires beyond temporary boredom, recreation, or relaxation. And they don’t support me when I feel I am crushed beyond measure, facing horrible odds, in fear for my own life and safety by powers beyond my control, or I’m at my most depressed and hopeless. It’s this book, this book that many non-Christians scoff at as being an antiquated set of millennia-old fairy tales, that sustains me. And it’s this same book that’s changed my life, many of my family member’s lives, and countless other lives for the better.

For those of you looking for more in life but think that the Bible is nothing more than worn-out words by doddering old folks, I invite you to “taste and see” (Psalm 34:8).

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your Sacred Word, which brings life to all who look to it. Please give me a deeper love for it so that, by examining and studying it, I might better understand you and make choices that lead to greater life for myself as well as greater building of the Kingdom of God. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #163:”It’s a Fake!”

Tags

authenticity, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, God, honesty, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, self-deception, truth

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Fake It ‘Til You Make It”

Fluttershy finds herself in another situation where she’s jarred out of her comfort zone in this episode; namely being asked to run Rarity’s own bustling and highbrow boutique in Manehattan. Being naturally shy and with no retail experience, Fluttershy elects to handle running the store by “faking it”–pretending to be a series of alternate personas that appear to be more confident and knowledgeable in the field.

Disaster soon resulted when Fluttershy took her fake personas too far and ended up embodying all of their negative characteristics while simultaneously not knowing when it was time to “drop the act”.

A rather crazy example, but still drawing attention to the fallacy of trying to be a fake person.

All of us probably have met at least one person in our lives who we saw was “fake”. On the outside they may have appeared to be any number of things: nice, empathetic, generous, fair-minded, or even a devout Christian. In phone conversations, in public, and on the Internet they might have painted themselves as a model citizen, a certified genius, or a fantastic friend. Yet all we needed to do is be with them at home or in private for fifteen minutes and we started seeing what kind of person they really were. Less patient, more argumentative, possessing greater self-centeredness, or showing off any of a host of biases and prejudices. These individuals can often be frustrating because, similar to Fluttershy in this episode, they have put up this fake front of being this different person for so long that they’ve ended up fooling themselves. They’ll insist on their own virtues or qualities, and as a result never confront reality about their own character flaws and need to change.

That is not, however, to say that these individuals are necessarily narcissistic egomaniacs or suffer from delusions of grandeur. If you’re at all socially awkward (like me), chances are at some point in your life you tried to get through a conversation by “faking it ’til you made it”. Perhaps you pretended to be a sports’ enthusiast when you knew nothing of a sport but were surrounded by fans, that you were knowledgeable about this or that TV show when you had only heard a few reviews and didn’t want to be left out of a conversation, or even tried to pretend to be more cheerful and talkative than you really were to fit in with an odd crowd.

For me personally, however, the biggest time I ever “faked it” was early in my college years–namely when trying to be “more Christian”.

At the time, I constantly heard stories of great men and women for Christ as well as tales of martyrs and miracles all over the world that took place due to the power of their faith. I was also reading the “heavier” parts of the Bible that mentioned the demands of keeping the Law and of being holy before God. I eventually got to the point where I was feeling seriously inadequate compared to “real” Christians…and more than a little envious. I concluded that I would have to be like a saint or foreign missionary in my level of action and commitment if I wanted to call myself a real Christian, but hearing of their great acts, self-sacrifice, as well as everything they gave up for their respective ministries left me feeling nervous and ashamed because I knew I could never match those things. So, instead, for a time, I tried getting into whatever I could in terms of service and ministry and then decided I would “fake it” by saying all the right things a good Christian would say and espousing the Gospel while acting good-natured and like I was everyone’s friend until it came more naturally to me.

It was a disaster. As I mentioned in earlier devotionals, my true nature came through and what attempts I did make to “be Christian” were either incredibly weak or obviously fake, especially when authentic Christians came in and showed me up big time. I came off more as a crazy person with nowhere to go. It became very clear very quickly to everyone that I didn’t want to be in those situations, that doing so was making me overwhelmingly uncomfortable, and that I wasn’t being very Christ-like to anyone. I eventually learned a good lesson from all that: when it comes to being Christian, there’s no way to fake it ’til you make it. Sooner or later your true nature will come out, and at best you’ll just embarrass yourself while at worst you’ll embarrass the Body of Christ as well.

The Bible warns against trying to “fake your way” through being a Christian. “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (Romans 12:9-10) “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). For years, however, I didn’t pay attention to these, because I thought the alternative was doing nothing and loving no one. I figured it would be better to be a fake yet upstanding Christian than a real yet uncaring one.

But my problem was I was focusing on the wrong issue. Christians don’t love God because they do good things. They do good things because they love God. I needed to focus on strengthening my relationship with God and loving him more and wanting to understand him more, and, by doing so, learn to love other people as he does. If you love God and other people, you no longer have to compel yourself to be good, kind, generous, or compassionate toward them, because you already do those things out of that love. “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45). You may still need to push yourself out of your comfort zone from time to time, but it’s important that you do so for the right reasons and with the purer motive.

A bit cliche but still true…God created you to be you, not anyone else. He designed you to do what you can do…again, not what anyone else can do. When tempted to be “fake” for the sake of pleasing God, my suggestion is this. Don’t try to be as good or a better Christian than “him” or “her”. Focus on being a better Christian than the you from yesterday.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for making me the way I am; unique in my own way and not quite the same as anyone else in history. Grant that I will appreciate how you made me and help me to better develop my talents and “good parts” for serving you and others. When I’m feeling inadequate or envious of others and desire to be more like them to make up for my own faults, help me to remember that I am your unique creation, to focus more on improving my deficiencies rather than trying to mask them, and to consider how I, [your name], am best suited for and can best further the Kingdom of God. Please confront me if I am guilty of lying to myself and others about who I am, and, if so, forgive me and help me to be more authentic to all people and especially to you. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #161: “Everyone Outta the Melting Pot”

Tags

Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, culture, devotional, discrimination, equality, God, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, multiculturalism, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, prejudice, racism

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “School Daze”

This episode (and Season Eight as a whole for MLP:FIM) introduced an important series of topics that had either been sparsely touched on or stepped around on the show until now: multiculturalism. By introducing the School of Friendship and opening it intentionally to both pony races and non-pony races, Twilight Sparkle introduced the opportunity to create a common ground for a variety of races to not only interact but to share their ways of life with one another. In doing so, both this episode and much of the season focused on how an individual’s culture shapes their identity and what happens when that same identity is exposed to a culture (or variety of cultures, in this case). And I think it did a pretty good job of it.

Of course, this episode also introduced the more “negative” response to multiculturalism that also appears frequently in modern society. Namely, by showing even in a “friendship-loving” country such as Equestria there are still individuals who treat other kinds of creatures with racism and prejudice, and who view opportunities to exchange culture as simply exposing vulnerabilities or a chance to tout their own culture (and even species) as above others. It also showed the most extreme example of this: enforcement of prejudice by legal policy. By refusing to give the School of Friendship EEA approval, Chancellor Neighsay essentially was saying the school had to be Equestrians-only or it wouldn’t be legally considered a “real” school.

Multiculturalism is (to me) a surprisingly touchy subject in the modern world. I mostly blame political rhetoric for why it’s so controversial, although there is some justification behind why it’s not more readily promoted. As part of my own verdict, I think human society is at the point where there is no way we can’t advance some form of multiculturalism and expect to still coexist or functional peacefully. The world is only getting “smaller”. People are more connected every day and working with more diverse groups every day. To make the best living for everyone, we have to acknowledge one another and respect one another. The only way you’re going to escape multiculturalism is if you invoke some sort of draconian measures like some countries are desperately doing and cutting off Internet and media access and/or sentencing anyone who tries to report the news to torture and imprisonment–as if you were trying to make-believe you were somehow the only country/culture/people on Earth.

Yet that doesn’t change one simple fact: everyone tends to think their own culture is best. When two different cultures come into a conflict on an issue, it’s likely whoever is the proponent for their own culture will say the way things should be is with their own way of thinking. Moreover, if one tries to change things to be more in line with something that is against their culture (even if it’s something so “obvious” to one culture versus another, like giving a woman an equal inheritance as a man or saying signs should be printed in Spanish as well as English), it can lead to anger and outrage at trying to impose a different culture’s views on their own; leading to the same draconian measures I stated earlier in an attempt to “protect” one’s culture by essentially banning a different one or forcing them to assimilate.

And, sadly, considering the fact that there is a great deal of conflict in the world still driven by clashes of ethnicity, some of this discriminatory persecution has a reason behind it that’s not simply hate and distrust. (It’s not a good thing, but it would be sticking one’s head in the sand to pretend it isn’t there.) The truth of the matter is even in a society that embraces multiculturalism, eventually the society will say some cultures have to either restrict themselves or won’t be allowed in. (At the bare minimum, a multicultural society isn’t going to tolerate a culture that says there shouldn’t be multicultural societies.)

That brings us to Christianity and, for the most part, all religions and faiths in the world. One of the main criticisms, and more justifiable ones, about Christianity and religion in general is that it is, inherently, anti-multicultural.

Even from its inception, the ultimate goal and destiny of Christianity was not to be confined to one people but to incorporate all peoples, nations, and races. All Christians are committed to the idea that the future Kingdom of God will put an end to international and intranational conflict and war. “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'” (Revelation 7: 9-10). “he says: ‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6). “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28: 18-20).

However, that doesn’t change the fact that the ultimate desire in this case would be for everyone to become Christians. What does that mean for countries and peoples who have part of their cultural identity be their own faiths, whether they be Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or even old ethnic religions? Would converting to Christianity in that case mean abandoning part of their identity? Historically, for many Christian missionaries, mission work didn’t mean simply sharing faith in Jesus Christ with other people but in using it as a means to control, conform, or even ethnically cleanse other groups. One needs to only look at the history of Europe displacing the natives in the New World for that. Yet even if there is no malicious or ulterior motive behind it, promoting any religion means, implicitly, that you believe that one religion is superior to all others and worth following more than any other, and there aren’t many religions in the world that allow you to follow more than one at the same time.

To single-out Christianity, does that ultimately mean that Christians, by definition, should be against multiculturalism?

Well, from a personal standpoint, here’s the way I see it. I’m for eating a good diet and exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle. That doesn’t mean I’m going to push for legislation to make it a crime to be at an unhealthy weight or try and ban sugar.

While there are some important details that need to be taken into consideration for a multicultural society, as a Christian I feel both I and other Christians, even if our ultimate goal is to bring as many souls to Christ as possible, need to endorse one as part of that. Whenever legal coercion or societal pressure becomes part of an attempt to influence someone to join Christianity, Christianity is no longer something “genuine”.  It’s a response to a worldly threat.  What more, I see it as an act of cowardice. When looking over the situations in various countries in the world where Christianity is oppressed, I see a normal checklist of common themes: proselytizing is made illegal, “apostasy” is made illegal, people of this one religion get more legal benefits than others, religious literature that is not for one religion in particular gets banned, non-mainstream religion has to be done behind closed doors, etc.

Exactly how great, profound, and true is your religion if you have to take extreme measures to keep anyone from even knowing another religion exists for fear they will immediately abandon yours for that one? How secure is your faith if you’re terrified it will get cast aside if someone breathes a word of alternative? Frankly, how much of a coward does that make you or how flimsy does that make your faith?

All forms of racism, prejudice, and discrimination, both legal and societal, are ultimately nothing more than expressions of fear. To me, to subscribe to them means to live in an attitude of fear. And how can we claim to live in Christ’s love if we’re letting our fears rule our society? Or how can we claim to be changed and emboldened by faith in God if we look on this, that, or the other group as individuals to be controlled or constrained by laws and government?

At the bare minimum, all Christians would like the opportunity to be able to witness and proclaim the Gospel without the threat of legal reprisal, so my own feelings are that we should, to be fair, advocate for a society where all religions including our own are free to do so. Only then can we claim that we have the Truth and not merely whatever is popular in our corner of the world. Doing so, of course, means that Christians will have to show a bit more clearly how our faith changes our lives and inspires us to be better people so that people will know that Jesus does change lives and does give us life “more abundantly”, but, in all honesty, that should have been clear all along…and if it isn’t then perhaps the issue isn’t a matter of multiculturalism at all.

Twilight and her friends in this episode introduced their values of friendship to their students by sharing, teaching, and demonstrating it in their own lives rather than coercion or forcing conformity. Maybe Christians should do the same when sharing the Gospel.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that, with you, “here is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Grant that I may see all in the world the same way you see them: creations so loved by God that he gave his Only Son to die for them on Calvary. And if there is any hate or fear in my heart keeping me from even seeing another person or people that way, much less from reaching out to them and loving them, please confront me with it and please forgive me as I repent of it. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #160: “Filter Feeding”

Tags

bias, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, filters, God, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, optimism, pessimism, prejudice, Shadow Play, Starlight Glimmer, Starswirl the Bearded, stereotyping, Stygian, the Pony of Shadows, Twilight Sparkle

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Shadow Play”

While meant to be a drama, this episode ended up serving well as one of the “friendship lesson” episodes–illustrating the dangers of perceiving the world the way we are instead of how it really is. The epic battle that lasted over a thousand years between Starswirl the Bearded and Stygian, the Pony of Shadows, all boiled down to neither individual seeing the truth. Starswirl interpreted Stygian’s attempt to copy the powers of the Old Pillars of Equestria in order to earn appreciation as an attempt to steal their powers for himself, making him a villain in his eyes. Stygian, on the other hand, interpreted being cast out as an act of ingratitude and hate, making the Old Pillars, and his old friends, his enemies in his own eyes. In the end, their banishment and their fight was the result of misunderstanding reality rather than truth, but that didn’t mean both of them didn’t defend such misunderstandings vigorously. Starswirl saw Stygian as a monster to be banished, and Stygian wanted to destroy all of Equestria if it meant getting his revenge on him.

When thinking about this episode for this devotional this past week, a thought occurred to me that tied in with it. Many of you are probably aware of the abuses of social media. How they seem to be used as an excuse to vilify, insult, shame, and breed every kind of discord and intolerance imaginable to get everyone at each other’s throats, whether consciously or subconsciously. Enough to where a backlash has begun where people are beginning to swear it off. However, I myself don’t have much of a problem with it and I use Facebook regularly. How, you ask? I discovered a couple years ago I wonderful option to block posts from certain groups. Before then, anyone and everyone I friended would repost things that were political, aggressive, argumentative, and occasionally obscene. I used to always find the urge to respond to them, often resulting in arguments breaking out and the desire to feel justified overriding the desire to be Christian, but I eventually decided to go with the “if you can’t say anything nice…” maxim and simply blocked sites that had nothing but political and inflaming rhetoric. Since then, Facebook has become far more manageable for me (especially in election season…). Now that I filter out the stuff that ticks me off and leave only the stuff I’m interested in, things are much better.

How does this tie in to today’s episode? As I’m emphasized in other posts, we never see the world the way it is but the way we are. Everything from our view of international affairs to our outlook on our job to our attitude toward strangers to how we wake up in the morning and look around our rooms…whether it’s good or bad, hopeful or depressing, an opportunity or a lost cause: it all comes down to our outlook. And what many of us don’t realize consciously is just how many “filters” we put on everything subconsciously.

Such was definitely the case in this episode. Both characters had put up their own “filters” so that they could see nothing in each other except what they had already decided on seeing. In particular with Starswirl. To him, Stygian was nothing but evil to be stopped. He wouldn’t bother listening to anything Starlight tried to say about it, dismissing even considering an alternate viewpoint as irrelevant, and adamantly refusing to see anything but his version of history. In other words, anything that challenged his mental schema was blocked out entirely. Only things that confirmed it were let in.

Getting back to the topic of politics. I try to stay out of them, but my family listens to them and I get feeds from news sources both liberal and conservative. I’m amazed at how it seems as if they’re reporting on two different realities most days. Essentially, each source casts everything one way or the other. If it’s something that the party they’re in favor of did, no more how horrible, disgusting, illicit, or harmful, it’s always cast to make it look like it was either not a big deal or even a virtue. By comparison, if it’s something that the party they’re against did, no matter how good, noble, wholesome, helpful, or even innocuous, it’s always cast to make it look as if it’s the worst thing ever conceived by mankind. Or oftentimes they simply ignore whatever news story makes the other side look good as if it never even happened. Again, it’s all a “filter”.

Politics is an easy target, but it extends to everything. How you view this race or that gender. How you think of this religious group or that country. Even how you view the homeless and the needy, or what personal choices you make for recreation or fun. People don’t realize how often they have made a subconscious yet firm decision to love something or hate something. When that happens, they put on “filters”. And as a result, they often won’t give anything a chance or think up reasons to not do something or try something. Sometimes it’s used as an excuse for hate or intolerance. And sometimes it becomes just plain crazy. (I myself know one person who refused for ages to try a restaurant named “Cheddar’s”. Why? Because he hated cheese…in spite of the fact the restaurant doesn’t specialize in cheese and that’s just the name.)

Whether you pick the Old Testament or the New Testament, the Bible warns against the sin of showing partiality and seeing the world according to human eyes rather than God’s eyes. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'” (1 Samuel 16:7). “Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:2-4). “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28). In short, we are to strive to see things the way God sees them rather than according to our own internal “filters” and all of their associated biases and prejudgments.

However, to me, the good news is that the right kind of “filtering” can also work to our advantage.

Just as internal filters can keep us biased toward seeing the world in a negative light, it can help us see the world in a positive one. We can train ourselves to stop looking for reasons to hate or dislike things but instead to look for the living spirit of God in everything. When looking at a group or individual we dislike, we can choose to see how they are a precious child of God and loved by him as much as we are. When disaster strikes, we can choose to see in what ways we are still blessed and what opportunity we might now have. When feeling attacked unjustly or persecuted, we can choose to look for how God is guiding us and how he wishes for us to grow in that situation. It’s possible, even in the worst of circumstances, to still see the presence of God, his spirit, and goodness and love in everything, while at the same time filtering out anything negative, externally terrible, hostile, or that in any other way tries to get us to react with a hostile, angry, or hard-hearted attitude. But even if you’re not in the worst of circumstances, you can do the same in everyday occurrences, no matter how mundane or simple.

And over time, we can train ourselves to see the world that way by default, and to keep growing to see the world the way God sees it. And when that happens, like it did on my Facebook page, the world becomes a much more pleasant, hopeful, lovely, and opportunity-filled place.

My suggestion for this devotional is to focus a bit more on trying to identify filters that we have set up that are keeping our world view rather grim and pessimistic, and instead to focus on seeing things more the way our Lord wants us to. It might make all the difference in the world.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that the world is filled with your Spirit and blessings, and that they are all around us no matter the situation if we will look for them. If there is something in my life that is keeping me from seeing the world the way you want me to see it, or is warping my view toward others and keeping me hard-hearted, please help me to identify it, and I now renounce it and repent of it. Instead, please give me eyes to see the world the way you see it, so that I can better grow to love this world you have made and especially the people you have created to fill it. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”