My Little Devotional #160: “Filter Feeding”

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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.”

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My Little Devotional #159: “No Son of Mine”

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Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, faith, God, inadequacy, inspirational, Jesus, justification, merit, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, salvation, shame, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, Uncommon Bond, works

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Uncommon Bond”

In this episode, Starlight Glimmer invites her old friend Sunburst over for a friendly visit to Ponyville and some quality time. Unfortunately, the visit doesn’t go very well. Most of the time Starlight spent with Sunburst was during their childhood, but now that he’s an adult he seems to have more interests and things in common with Starlight’s other friends. Before long, he’s more eager for chances to spend time with them during the visit than her. It eventually gets so bad that Starlight herself starts to feel like a “fifth wheel”, and begins to fear that Sunburst would rather abandon her in favor of her other friends; leading her to take extreme measures to try and reconnect with him.

This was another episode I had to think about for a long time, but eventually what stood out the most to me was Starlight’s feelings and, as a result, behavior. I eventually realized it wasn’t all that different from my own feelings as a Christian and, I imagine, the feelings of other Christians.

The New Testament emphasizes that we are only saved by the Grace of God and the Sacrifice of Lord Jesus. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). He loves us because of who He is and who we are, not due to anything we have or haven’t done. Yet the Old Testament and much of the New Testament are still devoted to the pursuit of righteous living. Some passages indicate that doing so is proof of our acceptance of Lord Jesus’ Sacrifice and our devotion to live for Him, while others indicates that God shows special favor to those who lead more righteous lives as opposed to those who lead less righteous ones.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:22-27)

“Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
    he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
    who conducts his affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved;
    he will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news;
    his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
    until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.” (Psalm 112:4-8)

And we need only look around our own congregations to easily see that some people donate more, some give more of their time, some praise louder, some press on through tougher challenges, and some speak out more boldly than others. In spite of the idea that, as sinners, we are all equal in God’s sight, there’s much external evidence to give reason to believe that some Christians are “better” than others.

And when people start believing that, naturally what happens next is they start feeling ashamed. After all, most of us can look at, say, Mother Theresa and then look at our own lives, and start realizing there doesn’t seem to be much comparison. We may start wondering how we can call ourselves Christian when people like that walk around far more righteously, more boldly, and seemingly more devoted to God. In the worst cases and in our darkest moments, we may start to question how God can really love us compared to those people as we seem to be so much less and have so little of “what he’s looking for”, and we may feel we need to start doing external acts of our own to start to measure up to those standards and be someone more like the person God wants.

While regular self-evaluation is an important part of any Christian lifestyle, as is the need to challenge ourselves to be bolder and to step out and do greater things for Christ, it’s important that we don’t fall into the trap of starting to believe these works make us greater or lesser in the eyes of God. That’s, as King Solomon once said, meaningless and chasing after wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14). We can’t do anything through our own actions to elevate our status before God. Only the Sacrifice of our Savior could accomplish that. However, as a result of what He did, we are now considered sons and daughters of God (Galatians 4:5-7). Christ’s Sacrifice makes us perfect and without blemish before him. That was all the work of our Lord without any input from us.

What we do now is the result of a desire to live for Him and to become more perfect/complete as He is. It comes from a growing relationship and affection for God and his heart and a desire to be as loving and gracious as he is. It’s nurtured by developing greater trust and faith in God to surpass all trials and tribulations and to do great things in His name. Therefore, doing “greater works” is not so much from greater effort on our part but instead having more faith in God’s own sovereign power and the willingness to let it act through us.

Always strive to live in greater harmony with his Will, but do not think your salvation is key upon it, and get the mindset of God just sitting there waiting to brush you off into condemnation for not “living up to expectations”. Rather, learn to see God as someone encouraging and empowering us to succeed in all the plans he has in mind for us.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for the blessed Sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has made us blameless in your sight and your own sons and daughters. When discouragement comes upon me of not being able to “live up” to your expectations, let me always cling to the absolutely unchanging and unbreakable reality of the Cross that has already made me clean, and rather than fear your disapproval draw closer to you for strength and encouragement greater than anything I myself am capable of, and through relying on your Will and Power do more than I ever thought possible. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #158: “To Whom It May Concern: Nevermind”

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Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, evangelism, God, Gospel, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, Pinkie Pie, preaching, Rainbow Dash, Secrets and Pies, sharing the Gospel, the Great Commission, witnessing

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Secrets and Pies”

Rainbow Dash doesn’t care for pie. Nothing’s necessarily wrong with that, as everyone has things they like and things they don’t like. However, what complicates this particular instance is the fact Pinkie Pie likes making Rainbow Dash pies. And rather than telling Pinkie that she doesn’t like them, Dash is so scared of offending her and hurting her feelings that she keeps graciously accepting them, complimenting her highly, and then disposing of them at the first convenience. In not telling Pinkie that she hates pies, she figured she was doing her a favor by sparing her feelings.

As it turned out, the opposite ended up being true. As someone who himself is an amateur writer, I can tell you that it would be extremely infuriating, frustrating, and even disheartening to have someone tell me for years that they loved my work only to find that they hated it the whole time and were just trying to spare my feelings. That’s because praise has the side effect of making one try harder to please the fan even more next time, even to the point of devoting extra time and effort to it, because they believe it makes them happy. Not to mention it has them take more pride in their work than they might otherwise. And so it was for Pinkie Pie. As the girls point out, Rainbow Dash set out to keep from hurting Pinkie Pie’s feelings by omitting the truth, but she ended up hurting them even worse.

There comes a time in everyone’s lives in which they believe that a “little white lie” or simply omitting the truth would be preferable to sharing it. And in some cases that might very well be true, but not most. Like I said before, I’d want someone to be honest with my work. Even if they were “brutally honest”, I might sulk or fume for a while, but I’d eventually realize what they were saying and realizing it was something I needed to change. Obviously when there’s a situation of abuse, whether physical, mental, or sexual, the last thing to do when asked about it is to omit the truth. And if we see someone indulging in self-destructive behavior, trying to ignore it or excuse it won’t do anyone any good in the long run, even if, as I have said in earlier devotionals, we run the risk of alienating a loved one or “driving them to do something worse”.

But naturally, for the Christian, the biggest truth we can’t afford to omit and also the hardest one to share is the truth of God’s Judgment of the World (Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31-46) and the saving hope of the Gospel message (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9).

I’ve heard the sermon many times before about the importance of sharing the Gospel, and likening it to seeing someone about to walk off of a cliff. If you saw someone about to do that who was in mortal peril, you’d yell and tell them about it, wouldn’t you? That’s true, and it is important, but it omits a few key details. To be more applicable to real life and the Gospel, you’d first have to convince the person that there’s a cliff there at all, and that the way you’re taking is the only safe way to avoid the cliff out of all the other paths out there…each of which you claim all lead over it. Then you’d have to deal with the person shouting back at you that you’re just trying to get them to go on your path because you like exploiting people and controlling them, forcing them to go down your trail and no other one. Or perhaps they’d argue about how you have the nerve to tell them to walk away from the cliff when they’ve seen you put your feet over the edge many times before. Or how you know that your path is the safe one and all you can say is you have a sign that says it’s the right one and all the other signs out there are lying.

In my darker moments, I’ve asked myself before if the greatest thing a Christian can do really is convince people God loves them or convince them that they should be scared of him. Like it or not, all of us became Christians at least partially out of fear of the Final Judgment. There’s a good chance most of us wouldn’t be Christians otherwise. It’s not a pleasant thing to think about or dwell on, and it certainly isn’t something we want to go around blasting people in the face with (unless, perhaps, we’re one of those campus soapbox preachers). Common sense and human nature tells us we’ll make some people irritable, angry, or hostile…not just to our message but to us as individuals. In some cases, we might even end up driving away people or getting ourselves in trouble with the law, in public, at work, or even at home. After all, the Bible cautions that the Gospel will make us the enemies of most.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,

    a daughter against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—

    a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39)

However, as this episode pointed out, omitting the truth can be even worse, and no more so in the case of the Gospel. We profess that Jesus Christ is the only hope for a doomed world and the only way to salvation from sins. “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”” (John 14:6) “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) No amount of other good works or other religion can replace Him. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) We believe that and attest to that, and we have accepted and received it to become Christians ourselves. And that sort of message is too important not to share.

We may not all be called to be mass evangelists or preachers, but we are all Christians, and we do all have a story to tell. And while the time may come where we are called to minister or witness to a stranger we meet and we need to be ready and waiting for that, we all have our own sphere. Our family, our friends, our co-workers, and our children. The people who know us personally and we know personally. These are the folks who most likely would hear us telling them to “watch out for a cliff” and realize we wouldn’t be telling them to if there wasn’t one there.

Furthermore, don’t think that God just tells us to do something like this and then sits back and waits for us to mess it up. On the contrary.

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10) “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17) “I can do all this through him(Christ) who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

Not only does he not abandon us when he asks us to do something, but he wants us to call on him for help. He wants to grant us power and ability that we don’t have ourselves so that he may be glorified through us. (2 Corinthians 2:9) Don’t lose sight of that.

Lastly, if you happen to be a non-Christian and you are interested in learning more about this “warning message”, you can learn more here: Click here.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your saving message of the Gospel and the glorious sacrifice of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ; by which mankind can find salvation from its sins. Thank you for allowing me the providence to have had that message shared with me. I commit myself to you today and to the great Commission Lord Jesus gave us all  (Matthew 28:16-20). Please help me to so live that I may share the Gospel with every life I touch both today and for the rest of my life. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #157: “You Couldn’t Have Picked a Worse Time”

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Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotion, devotional, evangelism, exhaustion, fatigue, God, inspirational, Jesus, ministry, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, Once Upon a Zeppelin, sincerity, struggle, Twilight Sparkle, understanding, witnessing

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Once Upon a Zeppelin”

Twilight Sparkle had it rather rough in this episode. She set out with her family on what she thought would be a relaxing cruise to give her not only some time with her loved ones but some good old fashioned R&R and a break from her “princess duties”. Quite the opposite ended up being true. It turned out the reason her family got the cruise for free was because it was a “Princess Tour” in which she and her sister-in-law were expected to be the main events for the passengers. In order to buy her sister-in-law and family a break, she ended up having to take the role of princess more than ever as she went about hosting events and making appearances, and soon needing a vacation from her “vacation”.

While for Twilight this served as a lesson in needing to make time for herself, for me it brought to mind a different Christian dilemma. The fact that ministering the Gospel doesn’t tend to keep “normal hours” and often blindsides us unawares.

I’m sure all of us as Christians would love every time we were called to witness or be as Christ to someone to be practically gift wrapped to us. To come right after a Sunday service in which we’re feeling particularly energized and “holy”, to the tune of a golden ray of sunshine or a rainbow encircling the very specific target of what God is calling us to do, and in a situation we are perfectly suited and prepared for. Naturally, that sort of idealistic situation never occurs, but often we don’t even get anything remotely close.

Instead, opportunities to witness and minister hit us unawares. Maybe when we’re driving back from work and thinking of everything we have to do when we get home. Or when we’re waiting for the bus or a taxi while going out running errands before needing to make an appointment later. Or when we’re at the work concentrating on our jobs and what deadlines we have to meet. Or, possibly in a vein similar to this episode, when we’re out with our families at an attraction or on vacation just trying to get some relaxation in. Life doesn’t operate according to a normal schedule, and neither does God. As a result, we could often find ourselves tired, stressed, preoccupied, or even desperately trying to get a moment for ourselves when we find we’re being called. Odds are it often happens at times when the last thing we are thinking of is being Christian. And even if we are willing to make an effort, we’re probably too distraught or haggard to put our “best foot forward”.

The Bible tells us to be ready to preach the Gospel at all times (“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2; “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:15-16), but that, like most things in the Bible, is far easier said than done. How can we be ready to minister at all times, including the majority of times when our minds are elsewhere or when the last thing we’re thinking doing is “acting Christ-like”?

For me, I think it’s important to realize that being a good witness for Christ is not like preparing for a test or a competition, in which we will get one big event where we’ll have a chance to show our stuff and then it’ll be over. Christianity isn’t just poignant acts of ministry or evangelism; it’s a way of life and a state of mind. To me, far more important than trying to be prepared to say or do the right thing at that one big instance that could come up (or, more appropriately, that we think will come up) is to maintain a more Christian frame of mind and heart. To make our lives as a whole more in line with the heart of God and the things of the Bible. When you do that, everything else, including witnessing, ministry, and even being able to be “as Christ” at the worst of times, becomes more natural because it’s simply an extension of who we are rather than us trying to be something we’re not. Furthermore, it’s our ability to naturally turn to God and to count on him to bear us through all difficulty, both in the best and worst of times, that ultimately shows the world why our faith is so powerful.

The Bible cautions not just to pretend to love people or to care about them. (Romans 12:9; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3) To me, that goes part in parcel with ministry. If it’s simply memorization and training ourselves for specific moments or instances to give out some well-crafted and yet canned response, it’s no good in the long run. No ministry or witnessing is truly effective unless it comes from the heart and what God has placed in our hearts. And I feel the best way to have something placed in our hearts is to strive to draw closer to God in a greater relationship and have him place something there. For the closer we are to God, the more we understand him. The more we understand him, the more we understand his desires both for us and others. And the more we understand those, the more we want to work toward fulfilling them even if we’re exhausted or overwrought. After all, as Twilight illustrated, no matter how tired or stressed we feel, we’d all do something for our own loved ones that needed to be done.

A suggestion I have to aid in this is a challenge I received a couple Sundays ago. Just for five work days, Monday through Friday, make a commitment to devote time three times a day purely to God. No other tasks, no other thoughts, no other concerns during that time…just nothing but you and God. I myself was only able to find five minute periods, but I did try it out and it did make quite a difference. For anyone wishing to enhance their devotional life and draw closer to God and his desires for us, I recommend it highly.

As a final note, something that I always find encouraging (which those moments of prayer I just mentioned helped me realize) is to remember that God will never ask you to do something that, with his help, you cannot do.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your blessed assurance, in my times of fear, exhaustion, self-doubt, and anxiety about doing your Will, that you will never forsake me or abandon me but will guide me through all difficulty so long as I commit to follow you. I seek to draw closer to you today and understand you more and your desires for both me and the rest of mankind. Please draw me nearer so, in getting to know you more, I will have a greater love and enthusiasm for the riches of Heaven and the salvation of the world. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #156: “Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain!”

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Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, CMCs, Cutie Mark Crusaders, devotional, falsehood, God, honesty, inspirational, integrity, Jesus, justification, Marks and Recreation, motivational, motive, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, Rumble, self-deception, sin

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Marks and Recreation”

In this episode, the Cutie Mark Crusaders run into a bit of opposition with their idea to run a camp that helps other kids find their true purpose and, as a result, their “Cutie Marks”. A certain colt named Rumble who is forced to attend by his older brother seems to be utterly opposed to the idea of a Cutie Mark. He half-heartedly performs the activities but only to give up on them seconds later, lashes out at the CMCs when they try to encourage him, and eventually incites a revolt against the camp by proclaiming how having a Cutie Mark will just confine you to doing something you don’t want to do for the rest of your life. This earns the ire and anger of the CMCs and causes them to butt heads, obviously, but eventually the girls find out the real reason for his acting out. In truth, he wants a specific Cutie Mark in being as talented as his older brother, even if it’s not what his true purpose is, and fears that if he gets it in anything else he’ll never be able to do anything athletic but be stuck with a talent he doesn’t want. And rather than face up to his personal fear, he shifted to venting his anger on the idea of Cutie Marks as a whole and encouraged others to do the same, even though the whole time it was all about him and his issue.

I didn’t really care for Rumble as a character. I think I even disliked him at certain points. Part of that reason is because I realize now that I myself was “Rumble” at least at one point in my life…and probably several.

You might think it’s a bit odd for someone who writes a Christian blog, but there are a lot of messages in Church I have a hard time swallowing. Part of it is my own odd mentality, as I tend to blow up and exaggerate the wrong things out of proportion. Part of it is genuine character flaws against change that I need to face and resolve. Yet regardless of the reason, I tend to act out from my own personal feelings from time to time. As I thought about this episode, I slowly realized that I had been “the Rumble” in a situation in which I tried to join a Bible study. Like I’ve stated before in earlier blogs, I was suffering (and still suffer) from issues of needing to prove myself to God. That if I am not able to do all these things that I see “great Christians” or “great witnesses” do then I’m not even a real Christian and my own faith doesn’t even exist. Yet when I try to be like them, it clashes with everything I am personally. I feel I have to be a certain way to be acceptable to God, rather than realizing it is the Great Sacrifice of Lord Jesus that justifies me in the sight of God instead of any action on my part. The way I fixate on only certain parts of sermons and messages, I feel like they’re all telling me to specifically be one kind of person, and it leaves me feeling frustrated as well as hopeless as I realize I’m nothing like that.

So…with that sort of mindset, I went into that Bible study. I saw everyone around me who, in spite of their admitting to their own faults and failings, also gave better testimonies about how they were able to reach out to people and act through faith. In spite of their claims to be just the same as everyone there, all that sounded like to me was that they were “better Christians” than me. It wasn’t long before I was as sullen as Rumble. Not able to understand how it was so “easy” for them and so “hard” for me, I began to grow resentful. I ended up starting to nitpick every line people preached with sarcasm, bitterness, and downright anger. I would throw handouts they gave me over my shoulder, glower and grimace at people, took up using profanity, and finally I stormed out and left it all together.

The problem was never the Bible Study group. It was always me. It was always the way I saw the world and my own reluctance and refusal to change or try to adapt to what I was hearing. It was my own personal feelings of being an inadequate failure who would never meet their standards. But I misdirected that anger. I deflected it off myself and attacked them instead. So as much as I dislike Rumble in this episode…in a sense, by doing so, I also dislike myself.

I imagine there’s a lot of “Rumbles” in this world. Some, like me, might only be damaging to ourselves and disruptive when we vent. Others, like Rumble in this episode, might be worse; not only fabricating an external cause for them to displace their anger on but misguiding others by manipulating their own fears and insecurities to follow after it. In this episode, it merely led the group of foals to find themselves unable to do anything but sit around for fear that they would get a Cutie Mark in something. In reality, it could lead to something much worse.

King Saul, for example. In the first book of Samuel, after the people of Israel begin to praise David more greatly than they praised him, King Saul conceived an intense jealousy for him. Rather than face up to his jealousy, he got the idea seated in his mind that David would never rest until he had overthrown his house and taken the throne of Israel for himself (1 Samuel 18:6-9); even though David saw himself as nothing more than one of the king’s own servants (1 Samuel 18:22-23). In the end, he led all of Israel in a campaign against David that drove him from the country under this false pretext, and murdered innocent people under the “crime” of trying to usurp his reign by aiding David (1 Samuel 22:6-19)  Another was in the secession of Israel. As a result of King Solomon’s sins, the unified Israel was split into the northern kingdom and Judah, raising up Jeroboam as the king of the northern kingdom in the place of Solomon’s son Rehoboam (1 Kings 11:29-39). Yet rather than acknowledge the Lord in having given him this kingdom, Jeroboam thought only of how if his people worshiped God in Jerusalem they would eventually revolt against him. Hence, he set up a new cult of worship to a pair of golden calves and directed Israel to worship them as their “true gods” (1 Kings 12:25-33). As a result, all Israel gave itself over to idolatrous worship and never fully returned to God, instead only getting one incompetent and wicked ruler after another…eventually leading to its destruction.

There are a lot of people in the world who might cause political and religious upheaval for the sake of their own selfish desires, including Christianity. I think of how I could have taken my dislike even farther. The things that I fixated on that I expressed my anger against I could have easily used as a rallying point against the entire Church the Bible Group was based out of, as reason to say they were going against the Word of God and encouraging a lifestyle based on works rather than faith. I might have tried to lead others to break off from that Church and either go to others or abandon it entirely. Such has happened at least one time in history, where an entire new branch of Christianity was created under one individual’s selfish premise (the Anglican Church…although in all fairness I consider this case doing the right thing for the wrong reason, but that’s a whole other story).

There’s a cautionary tale to be had in two parts from this. One, as stated frequently, is to always strive for personal honesty with yourself and with God. It’s always a good thing to focus from time to time on what makes you upset or angry, or what drives you in your life, and ask yourself and God: “Why am I doing this?”

The second is to be on the lookout for individuals displacing their own feelings into false causes, for there are many in the world. Many of them have crafted very well-sounding arguments while having hidden ulterior motives the whole time, and have learned to appeal to the fears and doubts of others.  Part of responsible Christian living is to be on the watch for false teachers and guides, of which we will always be subjected. That is yet another reason to never neglect your devotional life, as the Bible gives us a concrete anchor with which to judge what we are hearing against. Just be cautious that, as the Devil once did (Matthew 4:5-7), deceivers are fond of only quoting their “favorite parts” of the Bible and ignoring all else.

In short, be watchful to never be deceived by anyone…yourself most of all.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for granting wisdom and guidance to me when I am willing to be open and honest with myself to receive it. If I am committing the sin of self-deception in ignoring one of my own faults or personal issues, instead redirecting those feelings toward others, please forgive me for this grievous fault. I repent of it now and ask your help in making amends toward anyone I may have impacted as a result. Please grant that I will always strive to be honest with you and others, no matter how painful it may be. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #155: “Making Molehills Out of Mountains”

Tags

A Health of Information, activism, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, compensation, deception, devotional, Fluttershy, God, honesty, hypocrisy, inspirational, Jesus, Mage Meadowbrook, morality, motivational, motive, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, protest, truth, Zecora

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “A Health of Information”

Once again, I’ll be going in a slightly different direction with this one.

This episode introduced me and the brony community who hadn’t been keeping up with the comic officially to Mage Meadowbrook. The thing that I fixated on very quickly in this episode was the style that inspired her look. Between her hair, dress, accessories, Southern accent, and the appearance of her descendant, it soon became very clear to me that she was inspired by Louisianans…particularly Louisiana voodoo.

As silly as this will probably sound to most of you, especially since I tend to fixate on things and blow them out of proportion, this actually made me feel uncomfortable for a few days. Most religions in the world I dismiss as philosophy, mythology, or harmless, but there are a fistful out there that I feel drive people to do very evil things and are genuinely bad. I didn’t like the idea of this character, even if only in style, “endorsing” that religion. Again, I’ll say I tend to blow things out of proportion and read too much into them. After all, it was very clear from that episode that Meadowbrook didn’t practice voodoo, any more than Somnambula worshiped Ra or Rockhoof went raiding and pillaging. She was an apothecary and didn’t even have any magic of her own in spite of the title “mage”. Nevertheless, I did focus on it, even obsess over it, for a few days and debated writing to DHX Media or even quitting the show all together for a time. Eventually, I reasoned it was nothing but appearance and a misguided selection to add more variety to the Pillars of Equestria.

Yet remembering my reaction to that makes me think of a greater topic. As Christians, just how much of society should we “ignore”?

Our kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), but nevertheless most of us also identify ourselves as citizens of one “earthly” nation or another. And whether or not we can say that nation was built on Christian values, if we get any sort of say at all in the government we usually act in accordance with our faith. And in that sense, all Christians attempt to influence society to be in line with our values–the same as most everyone else. We all know the big name items that Christians talk about and debate: homosexual marriage, abortion, care of political refugees, the death penalty, etc. Each of those is an attempt to make the country operate in line with what we believe or, at minimum, to prevent a mandate that would force us to violate our own beliefs. Often, we also not only endorse our standpoint but many of us consider it a moral imperative to speak out about such big topics. Silence on them is considered tantamount to acquiescence and even, in some cases, an act of evil itself.

And true enough, in a situation in which we find an innocent person dying, all Christians believe we have a moral responsibility to do something and that to not do something is a grievous sin of omission. (“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?” [Proverbs 24:11-12]; “It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.” [Proverbs 14:21]); “This is what the Lord says to you, house of David: ‘Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn with no one to quench it.'” [Jeremiah 21:12])

However, aside from the major issues, there are also many smaller ones. Prayer and display of religious objects in schools, what is taught in textbooks and history books both in biology as well as natural history, what constitutes “art” versus indecency or anti-Christian sentiment, characters or subject matter in popular media for children, or simply the sheer amount of genuine filth present in the media nowadays are just a few. (As I’ve said before, I believe part of the reason adults are watching more children’s cartoons nowadays is they’re sick of feeling “dirty” after watching adult programming.) These things tend to get Christians outraged as well. And many times, they’ll devote considerable time and effort to protesting them. They might even consider banning certain books or eliminating certain TV shows to be as much a moral imperative as the matters of life and death, and, just as in those cases, a sin to be silent to it. To not protest, the argument is, is to not only allow it to be permissible through a sin of omission, but to also give way to a generally more “morally lax” position of Christians in general by gradually protesting things less. Simply “shrugging” and letting everything continue on a progressively slippery slope. To be honest, the argument can be made that (at least in America) Christians have become so watered down they’re effectively not even Christians anymore except on Christmas and Easter, and then only for an hour or two. The rest of the time many of us embrace everything else in culture, both wholesome as well as despicable, without much thought about any messages that sends or impact it has on us personally and/or spiritually.

Should Christians be more concerned about trying to reshape society toward more Christian values than it currently reflects today? Should they be fighting all of these “little battles” so vigorously as a form of line-drawing? Do they matter just as much as the big issues?

Rest assured, I do entirely believe there are a lot of things out there that are pure filth and serve no one any useful purpose. And it’s been demonstrated both unofficially and psychologically that, depending on your mental state, being constantly subjected to certain things eventually erodes away at one inwardly to the point where lasting damage is done to the human psyche. (Look no further than those suffering from PTSD or those addicted to pornography.) Furthermore, I believe we have freedom of religion in this country…not freedom from religion like more and more people are trying to insist. And there are a number of these “smaller causes” that I think are worth fighting for when they represent a greater issue at heart, such as how we are allowed to practice our faith or what we are allowed to speak about and display in public.

Yet in many cases I’m wondering, at least in America, if the energy is misdirected or even substituted.

I’ve gotten old enough to realize something: whether you’re a Christian or a member of any other religion, the easiest way to endorse a cause with the lowest amount of effort is to simply “get angry”. It takes almost no energy at all to say something is bad and condemn it. It takes very little more to write a nasty post or comment about it. It’s far harder to propose a solution just as attractive or work about to bring a constructive change or improvement that leaves an impact.

I think most Christians in America do realize they aren’t being terribly active for Christ. Very few of us tithe. Even less of us witness. And we’re usually too busy with our own lives to have any time for doing anything in terms of lay work, ministry, or volunteering. We realize not much of our lives is too terribly different from that of a secular person, and as a result we tend to focus on doing “one big act” every now and then to make up for that rather than trying to maintain a Christian lifestyle.

So…what is the quickest and easiest way to do “one big act” to make yourself stand out as a Christian and earn a “brownie point” for living a Christian life? Denounce something Christians in particular dislike, which is extremely easy thanks to Facebook and Twitter.

I recall the parable of Lord Jesus in Mathew 7:3-5. “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.” I believe He made another point in that story besides just a warning against hypocrisy; namely at how much easier it is to fixate on the problems others have while ignoring our own much greater ones. From personal experience, I can attest that when I am doing something wrong it’s far easier to find someone doing either a different sin or a “lesser version” of it…or maybe even just something my mind twists to look wrong…and condemn them far more vigorously, as it helps me feel more self-righteous and ignore my own issues. Of course, in the end, all I’m really doing is committing two sins instead of one: my original one plus my self-deception.

My encouragement for this devotional is to go ahead and remain active (that’s important both as a good citizen as well as a good Christian), but just make sure that no matter what you are defending or condemning your motives remain pure as a result of being honest with yourself. That way, we’ll focus more on fighting the “right battles” rather than thinking we’re somehow effecting great moral change by doing something as minor as, say, penning a letter about the way a character in a cartoon is dressed. Also, we’ll focus more on the one person we can always change (ourselves) and less on those we can’t.

There will always be good causes to fight because this world is indeed not our own; but let us not forget that it was never going to be. Our true test is to endure living here and persevere in faith rather than think we ourselves are somehow righteous and powerful enough to change it to be the Kingdom of God. Ultimately, it’s the Message we preach and the lifestyle we live that will be far more important than the other messages and lifestyles we rally against.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, I know that there are many things in this world opposed to you. Some of them I should endure in a Christ-like manner, and others I should take a stand against. Please grant that I will be motivated and stirred enough out of my comfort zone to confront the things I need to stand against, and the humility and honesty to stand down from the things I’m using as an excuse or compensation for my own poor behavior. And I thank you for bearing with me and being patient with me–both in times in which I failed to stand for what I should have and failed to sit for what I should have. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #154: “An Accidental Loss”

Tags

acceptance, accident, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, comfort, devotional, disability, feelings, God, grief, grieving, inspirational, It Isn't the Mane Thing About You, Jesus, loss, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, Rarity, tragedy, worth

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You”

In this episode, Rarity is rather excited about an upcoming photo shoot that will feature her and her highly-prized mane when an accident causes the bulk of her hair to fall out. Robbed of her pride and joy, forced to cancel her photo shoot, and soon noticing she doesn’t garner nearly as much attention as she did with it, she sinks into a cycle of depression and self-pity, endlessly obsessing about what she lost. While her friends let this go on for a few days, when she shows no signs of quitting they stage an intervention with a bit of “tough love”; reminding her that there’s a lot more to her than her mane that they all love about her. Finally shaken out of her glum mood, Rarity is able to make what’s left of her hair into a new style that’s just as eye-catching as she remembers her flair for inspiration and creativity. While she still would prefer her mane back, she realizes that all of her time wasted on lamenting it wasn’t doing it or her any favors, especially when it made her start forgetting about herself and her worth as an individual.

I consider myself very blessed by God that I have made it this far in my life without having to have something permanently taken away from me via injury, illness, or major catastrophe. I know there are many out there who are not nearly so fortunate, and I won’t presume to be so bold as to say I know how they feel. Yet even if you’re like me and are at the time in your life where you’re still having more opportunities open to you, there will come a time for all of us where doors will start shutting. I’m not going to be able to get much older before there will be limits on how strong and agile I can make my body. Not long after that and I won’t be able to eat what I used to and I’ll need to make a point to pay more attention to my heart and lungs. Assuming I’m lucky enough to not need glasses by then, in a few more years I’ll have to cut back on my exercise and say goodbye to any long competition runs. Eventually, all of us will reach the point where even getting around the house will become difficult, where we have to relinquish our ability to drive or get ourselves in and out of the shower, and may not be able to enjoy much from a physical standpoint at all.

In that sense, all of us will eventually reach the time of our life in which we lose something we thought was going to be a part of us forever–something we may have even enjoyed, relished, and prided ourselves in, and be left wondering what comes after that. If we’re lucky that will come early in life. If not, we’ll experience loss much sooner and far more abruptly and suddenly. All it takes is one incident to rob us of our sight, our hearing, our mobility, or our appearance.

When faced with this kind of loss, the grieving process is as natural as it is for when we have a death of a loved one. In a similar vein, both involve realizing you have lost something you aren’t going to get back and are now faced with an emptiness or, in this case, a closed door where once there was an open one. Anger, bargaining, denial, and depression are all natural reactions. Christians experience this as naturally as everyone else too. In fact, they might feel the reactions a bit more strongly: blaming God for what happened to them, thinking praying enough or doing good deeds will somehow undo it, and lastly feeling abandoned and unable to fulfill any meaningful purpose. How would, for example, a person once admired for their beauty, especially one in a romantic relationship, feel if they were a burn victim? Or how would someone who used to be an active athlete feel if they got damage to their spinal cord?

I don’t have any answer to how to make someone feel better after something like that, and if I did I wouldn’t presume to think I could. Even if I had been though a major loss such as that, it would be ignorant to believe I could understand how someone else was feeling who was experiencing such tragedy and that I could wash it away with some magic Bible verse. Grief is a natural process, as I said, and it has to be endured and gone though in its own time. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4)

The only thing I do know is from this episode: you can’t let a loss dictate who you are. You can’t reach a point where you think you’re nothing now; where you start defining yourself by what you lack rather than what you still have. You may reach a point where you have a disability, but you are not “a” disability.

Remember what the Bible says. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16) “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12: 6-7) ““Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8:35)

God sees glory and beauty in you even when you can’t see it inside yourself. There is no one who is “worthless” or “too broken” in his eyes, whether in the spiritual sense or in the physical sense. At your lowest point in your life where you thought you were of the smallest, most insignificant value, God appraised you as worthy enough for his Son to die in your place. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8) In the midst of whatever you’re going through, please don’t forget that.

And if you are lucky enough to have all of your own faculties but know someone who has experienced such a loss, first bless God for what you have, but then take a page from Twilight and her friends in this episode. Let that someone know that you still see them just the way they are now as you did before their loss; that you value them as much at this point as at that one. Don’t try to offer any platitudes or maxims or empty advice…just let them know that you are there whenever they need to reach out, and that you’ll be with them to “grieve with them” as long as they need. “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” (Acts 20:35); “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15)

As a final bit of motivation toward encouraging the downhearted, I’d like to link one of my favorite songs: Here on Youtube.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your words of encouragement found in your Word, the Bible, that constantly assure me of my worth even when I feel worthless. If I have been stricken with loss, help me to cling to that and remember that even with what I lack I am more precious to you than I can possibly imagine. And if I am fortunate enough to not be lacking, then help me to always be there for others who need me in the way they need me–even if it’s only to sit with them as they cry. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #153: “Boo Him Out!”

Tags

anger, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, criticism, Daring Do, Daring Done?, devotion, devotional, faith, God, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, opposition, perserverance, Pinkie Pie, pleasing God, pleasing others, Rainbow Dash, Somnambula, steadfast

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Daring Done?”

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie encounter A.K. Yearling a.k.a Daring Do in a rather bad spot of depression in this episode. It turns out while most of her heroic exploits in the far off corners of Equestria go admired and heralded by her fans, the locals in the areas she leaves behind in her wake are less than enthused from the collateral damage. Having never stopped to think about the side effects of her adventuring, Daring is left wondering if she has, in fact, been doing more harm than good when she overhears the anger of local residents toward the consequences of her fights with thugs and accidental mishaps on local landmarks. And while most of her adventures ended up having a lot of benefits in the form of stopping power-hungry villains and keeping thieves from grabbing historical treasures, the criticisms  from locals who never experienced them firsthand grow so loud she thinks of throwing in the towel all together.

While in this episode it turned out some of the criticism was due to Dr. Cabelleron’s shenanigans, and Daring Do did end up making amends for some of her damage in the finale, in a more general sense it illustrates a larger dilemma faced by most everyone. If you make a stand for anything, if you take a side on anything, or if you do anything that causes you to step out from the norm or take a more activist role, you’re not only going to face criticism…you’re going to have it pointed out and rubbed in your face why you’re wrong.

I’ll pick on a few social issues. The death penalty, for example. A lot of people are against it and with good reason; namely the sheer number of inmates who had been eligible for the death penalty when they received a sentence of life in prison who ended up being found innocent after decades of serving wrongful sentences. Or the fact that the death penalty is heavily race and gender biased. Proponents, however, will counter with how overcrowded prisons are, how expensive it is to keep inmates alive, the fact that there are at least some people who are consummate, unrepentant killers, and even the fact that there are places in the world so corrupt that escaping from prison is a relatively small matter (“El Chapo” comes to mind). If any of these escapees end up killing someone else, you can bet that the proponents will accuse the anti-death penalty crowd of having “blood on their hands”.

Having less ramifications but no less contentious is universal, government-provided health care. Individuals opposed to it cite the tax increases it will need to support it, the fact that it will reduce competition as government-run agencies need no accountability or profits, and the fact that it will give government the ability to start regulating everything from amounts of sugar in our food to how much exercise we have to do in order to be eligible for certain tax rates. Yet critics would argue, and rightly so, that our current system has led to sky-rocketing medical care costs for care that is much cheaper to receive in many other countries, and leaves economically disadvantaged people with no way to pay for medical care as they are forced to let themselves and their families get sicker or overload ERs. Whoever ends up seriously ill or even dead from an easily treatable cause that could have been prevented is an argument in favor of trying at least something new that will give care to everyone.

For the Christian, the criticisms are all too evident and widespread. Christians claim they want to heal everyone in the world, both emotionally and spiritually as well as physically, by being the living representatives of Jesus Christ and to lead them to Him for salvation from sins. We profess that Christ is the only hope for a doomed world and that forming a relationship with Him will lead everyone to have life and have it more abundantly. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10b) And yet, critics will point out just how flawed most Christians are. All of our weaknesses, all of our screw-ups, and especially all of the times Christianity was just another title slapped over some form of a oppressor. Whether it be against the Crusaders, white supremacists, Puritans, or Conquistadors, critics of Christianity can make the claim that Christians have brought more misery, hate, injustice, and intolerance to the world rather than less. They argue how we can claim to have such a world-saving message or to be the “light of the world” if we only “make things darker”.

All Christians…at least, those who are truly trying to be honest with themselves…will concede that they are far from perfect. They’re still in the flesh and reliant completely on Christ’s Sacrifice to justify them; realizing even after accepting our Lord that by our own efforts we are the very antithesis of holy and saintly. But even then, when we are faced with this list of condemnations through the evidence of history and all those who did wrong in the name of Christianity that we may feel disheartened in our Christian walk. Like it or not, by taking on the name of “Christian” we will be counted by the world as the same as that number. And it may feel impossible to make an impact on some people in the wake of that.

At times like this, it is important to remember a couple things.

The first, and foremost to me, is to acknowledge that we as individuals are not our ancestors or even our fellow Christians. We are ourselves, and ultimately it is our own actions we are accountable for. If we feel that we are being judged by the standard of the worst individuals ever to hold the title “Christian”, then we owe it to those same people who we happen to pass by not only to go in the same old tirade of “those weren’t ‘real’ Christians”, but far more importantly to show them what a real Christian is like. If we feel Christians of the past did wrong, then it’s up to us to show how different someone who genuinely follows the Word of God is, and most importantly how Lord Jesus Christ is really like. Otherwise, we’re nothing more than argumentative and, as the old saying goes, “talk is cheap”. I dare say it is even a weighty responsibility, as we might be the only example of a Christian someone will ever see at a key time in their life.

The second (if you’re already doing the first part and still see no change in opinion) is to remember an important fact: no one ever changes anything in the world without making enemies. If the planet could naturally change into something better without opposition, it would already be there. The world is the way it is because some (possibly many) people like it how it is right now even if it means injustice, oppression, or misery for some, and they won’t like things changing away from that at least at first. Look at history and you will see that no one ever did a single thing that changed the world for good or evil that didn’t make a lot of people mad…or even violent. And many people in history who are considered heroes by us, either as Christians or whatever nationality we hail from, are considered villains by many others even to this very day.  You will never please everyone, which is why no one should go through life making decisions with the intention of being loved by everybody. Rather, as Christians, our focus should ultimately be on pleasing God. “On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

And at times that will mean displeasing everyone else…including other Christians. For that reason also, it is important to never neglect one’s devotional life and relationship with God, nor to fail to critically examine ourselves from time to time to see where we are at. Not doing so can quickly lead to the foundation of our faith not being based on the Gospel but on what other people “tell us the Gospel is”.

While I do not believe any Christian should ever go out of their way simply to antagonize others, we should realize if we follow God we will eventually whether intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, always strive to maintain a clean conscience and honesty both with ourselves and with God. That way we will know we have pure motives and, as a result, we’ll know which criticism to take to heart and put the rest aside. Most importantly, we will know when to recognize that a ministry is not accomplishing its purpose, and when to have the faith to endure through a current trial for the good that it will do.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your promise–not that we will live lives free from affliction and persecution even when we are doing good, but that you will deliver us from all that rises against us. Help me to be brave, courageous, and steadfast in times when I am confronting oppression as a result of seeking to do your will, and to instead cling more fiercely to your Word and guidance to see me through. And grant that I always seek your approval over that of mankind. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

 

 

My Little Devotional # 152: “Good God, Bad God”

Tags

anger, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, exploitation, God, holiness, Jesus, judgment, King Thorax, mercy, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, perfection, Pharynx, pushovers, Starlight Glimmer, To Change a Changeling, wrath

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “To Change a Changeling”

Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, and Thorax have an unusual problem in today’s episode. It seems Pharynx, Thorax’s “rough” brother, doesn’t want to adopt the new Changeling lifestyle of being more peaceful and pacifistic; earning him the chagrin and dislike of most of his fellow Changelings as he’s assumed to be an aggressive brute. Yet while Pharynx is definitely not inclined to be more innocent and sweet like the rest of his brethren, it turns out he has more in common with them than either side would like to admit. He clings to his own aggressive and “military-esque” nature because he wants to defend the Changeling hive. It’s because the social structure of the Changeling race is important to him that he wants to remain fierce and strong to protect it. In the end, the Changelings ended up learning a realistic and valuable lesson when they are attacked and Pharynx comes to their defense: it’s always nice to pursue being peaceful, but don’t think that just because you are peaceful that you won’t have to deal with individuals who aren’t. Not every problem can be solved by “being nice”.

When it comes to the Bible, what most modern-day Christians cling to is only the New Testament. There may be a few key passages and Psalms they look at in the Old Testament, but in general the focus is away from that. Part of it is because a good portion of the Old Testament is devoted to genealogies and the Mosaic Law, but another part of it could be because the Old Testament is rather hard to swallow. Most people, secular as well as Christian, view the “God of the Old Testament” as someone far more vengeful, wrathful, angry, and condemnatory. And there is a lot more blood, destruction, and death in the Old Testament (although, in all fairness, the Old Testament takes place over a much, much larger time frame than the New Testament). Critics of Christianity often point out this fact and argue that Christians can’t possibly be worshiping the “same God” in both halves of the Bible. As for Christians themselves, I know at least some are apt to think that the New Testament is the “true Gospel” while the Old Testament was, perhaps, tainted and biased a bit by its mortal writers.

The implicit idea behind all of this is that people definitely prefer the “God of Mercy” to the “God of Wrath”. And that’s only natural. It’s far more of an easy thought to think of an all-loving, all-forgiving, welcoming God who sees us as his children than to think of a furious, vengeful, punishing God who sees us all as sinners to smite. What more, it’s very hard to reconcile these two images into the same individual. How can the image of the brilliantly holy, mighty judge of the world be reconciled to the suffering, compassionate father? It’s often easier for people to simply choose one or the other. And of the two, the merciful God is favored. That’s the sort of God most of us would like, I’m sure; especially confronted with our own sinfulness and wickedness. One who is kind, gentle, and overlooks sin with a shrug and a head-pat. Not one who issues out decrees for slaughter or consumes people with fire from Heaven.

Firstly, it’s important to realize that the idea of a “God of Mercy” is not something new to the New Testament. As Jesus said, He came to fulfill the Law, not abolish it. And many of the teachings He gave originated in the Old Testament…they simply didn’t gain as much prominence until the time of Jesus. (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5; “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19-18; ) Many sections of the Old Testament are devoted to the compassion God shows to sinners who repent. (“But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” Ezekiel 18:21-23; “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.” Jonah 3:10; “”I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God. After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:18-20)

Many of the prophets proclaimed death and doom as a result of Israel abandoning God, but when the people changed their tune to start crying out that God had cast them off as his people forever, there were equally powerful prophecies assuring the Israelites that God would never forget them or fail to rebuild them. (“Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.” Isaiah 61:7; ““I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.”” Joel 2:25-26; “”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”” Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Furthermore, it’s also inaccurate to think that simply because God in the Old Testament was known predominantly as “the God of Israel” that he was any less the God of the world and all mankind. He showed his mercy to non-Israelites as well as Israelites. As the above passage from Jonah pointed out, God had mercy on the people of Nineveh when they repented. Lord Jesus himself pointed out other instances in the Bible where non-Israelites were favored over Israelites…much to the chagrin of his fellow Jews. “I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” (Luke 4:25-27)

Therefore, it’s rather inaccurate to try and claim that just because God showed more of his “mighty arm” in the Old Testament that he isn’t the same God we call our Heavenly Father in the New Testament. Rather, over a longer period of time, and different sets of circumstances, different “sides” of him were presented. That’s why it’s important to read the whole Bible to fully understand God and not just the passages we like.

Secondly, as this episode highlights, unfortunately not everything in the world can be solved by “being nice”. While we would all love a touch of mercy for our wrongdoings, there comes a time when we stop looking for mercy and we start treating someone as a pushover who lets us walk all over them. Parents know that all too well. They may hate disciplining their children, but if they don’t (and, possibly, force others like grandparents to do the same) their children eventually become unruly and unmanageable because they expect to get away with everything. They stop respecting their parents as an authority figure at all and do whatever they want even when told to stop. In the same way, if God was simply hands-off to all sin and evil in the world, simply telling people to “be nice”, eventually there would be no reason to obey him. God is against sin because sin is hurtful and damaging to humanity.  Yet people don’t always see it that way and only see what it offers them at the moment; regardless of how it hurts themselves or others. When that happens and they won’t listen, the only way to deal with it is to be more “severe”.

After all, do we expect police officers to politely ask criminals to not commit crimes? Or do we expect them to grab them, restrain them, or even force them to submit if they don’t stop? Do we expect other countries around the world to respect us and not invade so long as we be open and friendly to them, or do we threaten to “hit them back even harder” if they try something–not so much out of a desire for war but as a deterrent? If we expect that from people of such relatively minor authority, how can we expect less from God as the supreme authority?

Thirdly, the God of the Old Testament is just as important as the God of the New Testament. The old Mosaic Law was to confront people with the holiness, righteousness, perfection, and obedience demanded of all those who would follow God, with the promise that all who disobeyed in the slightest would meet terrible, swift, brutal, and everlasting retribution. It was supposed to be something frightening and terror-strickening to show the consequences of all sin and the superhuman standards needed to ascribe to God’s holiness. Through all of that, the power of Jesus’ Sacrifice and redemptive blood becomes all the more precious and powerful. The mercy given forth by His act becomes that much more glorious. After being faced with the terror of God’s wrath and the destructive power of sin, we can now freely rejoice in God’s glory. The Old Testament is admonishment to the sinner; the New Testament is wonderful glory to the one who accepts Lord Jesus’ Sacrifice.

God is Love (1 John 4:8), and it’s important to never lose sight of that, especially when we feel at our lowest and most unlovable. It’s when people are at this most despairing point, after all, that God wishes to welcome them most strongly. Just remember that God is not only to be loved but also to be respected as an object of reverence, or “Godly fear”. Don’t lose sight of that image either whenever we find ourselves lured into committing sin.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your great mercy, especially personified in the matchless sacrifice of your Son, Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the full penalty of my sins so that I may gain entry into heaven. Grant that I will never cheapen this sacrifice by taking it for granted or stubbornly persisting in sin. And help me always to remember that you are a God both to be loved above all and respected above all at all times. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

 

 

My Little Devotional #151: “Stranger Than Fiction”

Tags

Apple Bloom, Applejack, Bible, Campfire Tales, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, fairy tales, folklore, God, Gospel, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, myth, New Testament, Old Testament, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, truth, validity, witnessing

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Campfire Tales”

In today’s episode, while stuck in a cave following a disastrous camping trip, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash tell their three “little sisters” some of their favorite stories about their historical heroes. The stories are practically legendary, depicting situations that seem too fantastic and incredible to be true. As a result, there’s a degree of disbelief on the part of the listeners, or at least a sense that part of the stories are a bit fabricated and blown up to make the situation look better. Nevertheless, the three older girls not only believe them but take the episodes from history as lessons for them to apply to today.

When I thought about this, only one thing came to mind for today’s devotional: what Christians themselves look to for lessons from history, and how others see the same.

When Christians hold up the Bible as defense of their beliefs, the typical response from most non-Christians is that it’s “a book of fairy tales”. It may support our beliefs, but ultimately it’s considered another work of fiction and so can’t be taken literally or authoritatively. And while Christians can defend a lot of the Bible’s content by pointing out how it collaborates with other ancient world history recordings and documents, such as the records of Josephus, and even confirm that certain prophecies did indeed exist prior to their fulfillment via documents like the Dead Sea Scrolls (for another accusation toward Christianity is that the only way the ancient prophecies could have been fulfilled so exactly would be if they were written after the historical event occurred), at the least we all know that there are very few things recorded in ancient world history that didn’t have the truth “stretched” over several thousand years.

Moreover, when it comes to the Book of Genesis, it seems there is direct contradiction between everything we know about science and the Bible. To this day, “Creationists” continue to claim Earth, and the universe itself, is only a little over 6,000 years old, in spite of mountains of evidence in astronomy saying otherwise. Many Christians today continue to aggressively insist evolution does not exist without even understanding evolution; even though in doing so they’re saying that HIV only needs one drug and not a cocktail to treat it, we don’t need any new pesticides ever, and that every generation looks exactly like the previous one. Their rationale is that, since the Bible is the only thing that can be considered to be 100% true and authentic, everything we know about everything else must conform to it or it’s a lie…completely ignoring the fact that people, and especially Christians, have been misunderstanding and misinterpreting the Bible since the beginning of Christianity and have continued unabated to this day.

But the bottom line from all of this is that, to the non-Christian, citing the Bible as authority and everything that is within it is as meaningless as holding up “The Cat in the Hat” and doing the same. Christians fail to realize this constantly, and I’m a bit stunned that they aren’t getting it. Back in college I got in a discourse with a Muslim about my faith, and at the end of it he gave me a copy of the Koran to cite his own authority for his own faith. Now, to me, the Koran may have parts of it that are adapted from history but ultimately I consider it, more or less, to be a “book of fairy tales” myself. I expected him and other non-Christians to feel the same way about the Bible. The question is how do I prove that the Bible isn’t and has the greater authority?

“Oh, the Bible is the Word of God!” Most Christians will immediately answer. The non-Christian responds: “How do you know that? I think this book is the word of God.” “Oh, but the Bible says it’s the Word of God!” “Well…my book says it’s the word of God. Why should I think yours is and mine isn’t?”

And, at this point, I see a lot of Christians take the “wimpy” way out: “Oh, the truth just hasn’t been revealed to you, so you’re going to be obstinate no matter what. Otherwise, you’d immediately see I’m right and you’d accept Jesus right here on the spot.” Maybe not that extreme, but something like that.

The Word of God, the Bible, is important and it does have power inside it. “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); “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16); “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.” (Psalm 12:6); “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). Yet not everyone will immediately see it that way or accept it as such.

There are a lot of books out there in the world that promise to have words that lead to life and self-fulfillment. Most of them are lying, but from a distance they all look the same. The Word of God itself has been twisted and warped into something horrible to suit a lot of people’s private agendas over the centuries. Even the Devil did the same with Lord Jesus. (“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”” (Matthew 4:5-7)). Aside from that, a lot of people have used their own books, religious and secular, as justification for some rather bad things.

A responsible Christian, therefore, has to realize that there’s a lot of external factors at work actively trying to make non-Christians doubt the Bible’s authenticity besides simply “not having the truth revealed to them”. Frankly, I think the average Christian, and probably all Christians, have to deal with doubt regarding the Bible every so often (which is why most Christians avoid the bulk of the Old Testament because it’s “too hard to swallow”). If even we run afoul of that, how much more the non-believer?

So how do we remedy that?

I think the way is contained right there in the Bible. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Lord Jesus Christ is described as “the Word made flesh”. Just as we believe the Bible is the Word of God, we believe Lord Jesus is the Word fulfilled. It’s because the Word of God is more than text on a piece of paper and brings life and contains power that it’s not limited to a book but became tangible and alive in His body. In the same way, that’s how people will see that what we proclaim is real–by how we manifest it in our own flesh. And we should. If we truly believe the Word of God changes lives, then at the bare minimum our own lives should be changed by it, and changed enough to where others will see it.

To me, I never get caught up in doubt regarding the age of the universe or evolution, because I know the Bible is real from the people whose lives I’ve seen changed and the miracles that happened to them. People that I’ve dismissed as lost causes and wanted out of my life I now see as my best friends because of the power of the Word of God. The rest of that stuff doesn’t bother me because of that.

If you want non-Christians, or anyone, in your life to see how much power is in the Bible, to see the authority in its word, the best way to do it is live in accordance with it…just as Lord Jesus did.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your Word, the Bible, and the incomparably wonderful message of salvation contained within. Thank you also that your Word is not merely text on a page but alive, active, and powerful. Help me to always remember that, as a Christian, I am proclaiming the Word of God at all times; whether I do so directly or in how I live my life. Grant that the words I “preach”, verbally and nonverbally, are always sharing the Gospel at all times. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”