My Little Devotional #166: “Leader of the Pack”

Tags

authority, Bible, devotional, diligence, God, Horse Play, humility, inspirational, integrity, Jesus, leadership, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, responsibility, trust

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Horse Play”

Princess Celestia has gotten a lot of flak over the years if you’ve been in the fan community. Often thought of as being useless, lazy, incompetent, or even an epic troll in terms of being a leader of Equestria, most of her good qualities come from the “Positive Void” rather than ever seeing her do anything on screen. Yet, as episodes like this show, when push comes to shove she can be a good, prudent, and fast-thinking leader with only minutes to spare…even if the crisis in question is simply salvaging a play.

Leadership is ultimately a necessity for human society. All communities are made up of varieties of individuals who have an assortment of proficiencies in certain talents or spheres of influence–many of whom are intelligent or knowledgeable in one or many fields. Even in the best of situations, if all of these individuals tried to act independently toward a common goal there would be confusion, disorganization, and a lot of stepping on each other’s toes. In worse situations, there would also be bickering, squabbling, and infighting. And in a crisis, all of those things would be potentially fatal. Simply put, people need those in positions of leadership if only to give a voice that all can march to or a common direction to follow, like a band leader or a conductor. Often it means much more than that, for the same individual to be the one who makes big decisions on behalf of others or takes charge in times of crisis as well. And for Christian leaders, it means even more as they usually have charge of preaching the Gospel and/or directing the community in their interpretation of the Bible and godly living.

It’s a bit corny and overused thanks to things like Spider-Man, but it’s also true: the more power and authority a position has, the greater the responsibility to maintain it (James 3:1). Since Christians believe their spiritual leaders have responsibility for the spiritual well-being of their community, that entails a very special level of responsibility. In the days of the Bible, the leaders were seen as representatives of the people as a whole and, therefore, were especially culpable for both their virtue and vice. It was, after all, their duty and charge to direct the people responsibly. And as such, primary punishment was always reserved for them when they neglected their people (Isaiah 10:1-10; Matthew 18:6), and they had a special obligation to pursue sound judgment and righteousness (Proverbs 11:14, 29:12).

Indeed, history is rife with examples of religious leaders who led peoples, communities, and sometimes entire nations astray with their interpretations of their religions, whether their interpretations were accidental or motivated by personal greed and self-interest. Yet even for the more honest and forthright among us, there probably aren’t many who envy having that position when they consider the responsibility and diligence it requires. Even so, there will likely be at least a handful of times in our lives in which all of us will be offered the chance, voluntarily or involuntarily, to take charge of a small situation. And for the Christian, that means being as responsible in the small matters as the large ones.

So what makes a good leader of Christian values?

1. A good leader consults the Lord.

One common theme of the good leaders in the Bible is that they always had recourse to the Lord; good times and bad. When in times of distress they cried out to him, when in times of fear and despair they prayed to him, and when in times of joy and plenty they praised him. David’s entries in the Book of Psalms are an excellent example of this. He may have been one of the greatest kings of the Old Testament but his life was anything but peaceful and worry-free. Yet no matter the time or the season, he didn’t forget the Lord and always turned to him no matter what he was feeling. Many leaders in the Bible, just like those in real life, frequently had to choose the best option out of several with no guarantee of success even then. Recognizing the limits of human wisdom as well as the uncertainty of the unknown, committing themselves, their people, and their nations to God was always a first and foremost step.

2. A good leader doesn’t rule in a vacuum.

Any leader can give a directive or an order for other people to follow, but a wise leader recognizes their own limitations and delegates responsibility to people of trust. They identify who are good and valuable people in their service who have a good talent and they appoint them to do what they’re best at; making the best use of everyone’s talents and not weighing themselves down with either the exhaustion of being overburdened or the overbearingness of micromanagement.  As a Biblical example, consider King Solomon. He is known as the wisest mortal man of all time who no one on Earth could match. And yet, even he had counselors in his service (1 Kings 12:6). Likewise, in the New Testament, Jesus Himself designated twelve apostles above the rest of his disciples to act in positions of leadership, and they themselves later designated others to handle the normal day-to-day affairs in the Church community so they could devote themselves to preaching the Gospel (Acts 6:1-7). No one knows everything or is a pro at everything, or has the luxury of the time and energy to direct everything. One of the best things a leader might do with people under their charge is look for who knows best about A or B among them and consult them accordingly, and be humble enough to accept their help. “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.” (Proverbs 11:14)

3. A good leader seeks the good of others over himself or herself.

In this episode, Twilight Sparkle may have created her play out of a desire to give Princess Celestia a chance to be a star, but Celestia herself realized it was more important for everyone involved to make the play a success. In the same way, all good leaders seek the success of those under their charge as a whole, while poor ones use leadership as an excuse for their own glory. In the Bible, some of the worst rulers ultimately stemmed from ones who cared little about their people compared to their own glory. There was the Pharaoh of Egypt in the Old Testament, who let misery and one plague after another afflict his people without care for their suffering due to the pride and obstinance of his position…until the last one finally struck him personally as well. There was Jeroboam, the first ruler of the northern kingdom of the divided Israel, who sought to preserve himself by inducing his nation to abandon the Lord and serve his idols, and in the end destroyed both his own house as well as Israel with him.  And then there were the latter day rulers of Judah, who became so oppressive and corrupt that eventually the Lord declared their doom through the prophets (Ezekiel 34:1-10). By comparison, Lord Jesus Himself, the King of Kings, set an example by putting the good of everyone ahead of Himself. ““I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

4. A good leader makes decisions that are right, not popular.

While it’s generally a good rule of thumb for any leader to make decisions on what is going to bring the most amount of benefit to the most people under their leadership, there comes times…possibly many times…in which a leader must use their position to enforce an unpopular decision in the name of the greater good. No one ever said doing the right thing would earn you praise or even make you popular. Going back to David, part of the reason he had such a tempestuous reign is because he was not terribly popular among all of his subjects. After spending years as a fugitive of his own country and the reigning monarch of the time, he became king at first only over the region of Judah for a period of seven years, and once he did become king of Israel he had to deal with two separate rebellions: one led by his own son. Pretty much every decision Moses made was hated by the Israelites, from the moment he made his first proclamation against Pharaoh which resulted in their workload being increased to their constant desires to return to Egypt while journeying to Sinai and the Promised Land to the multiple occasions of attempted revolt and rebellion during the 40 years in the desert. One need hardly mention just how unpopular Jesus was in His time; not just with the religious leaders but with many of His disciples (John 6:66). And yet all three of these individuals, especially Jesus, were considered to be some of the most upstanding and god-fearing men of the Bible along with the most sound judgment.

Finally, when it comes to spiritual leadership, many Christians have the privilege of “choice” in being able to pick which leader they are going to listen to and let influence them. Likewise, because of the special power and authority a religious leader wields, they have the ability to sway and direct people in many ways that more secular leaders cannot…as well as, if they so wish to, manipulate them. For that reason, even if we find ourselves always being a member of a “flock” and never taking a turn as a “shepherd”, it’s always a responsibility for everyone to choose carefully who they let lead them.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for the example of Lord Jesus and the model He gave us to follow when seeking to be a leader. Whether I find myself in a position of leadership or following others, please grant that I will always consult you first and seek your glory, that I will always be humble enough to seek the help of others when necessary, that I will desire the good of others over myself, and that I will always make the right decision rather than the one that gets the most people to like me. And please grant me a discerning heart to do the same toward people I put my faith and trust in to lead me. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #162: “The Next Man…or Woman”

Tags

Bible, devotional, fear, God, inspirational, Jesus, love, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, non-Christians, Old Testament, relationships, responsibility, The Maud Couple, toxicity, trust, vulnerability

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “The Maud Couple”

As Pinkie Pie demonstrated so succinctly in this episode, for most of us there will always be that one person or individual in our lives we just don’t “get”. I almost think it’s easier in some cases for a Christian to love a complete stranger than someone they actually know a little, because then they start noticing things about them that seem “off”, that are contrary to their own preferences, that clash with their own personality, or that just plain get on their nerves. Maybe it’s something they did, something about their background, some personality quirk, or their choice in hobbies, but each of us have some individuals in our lives to whom we just fixate on the negative. Even if we want to be nice and polite to everyone, these are the people where we constantly seem to look for fault or annoyance in their actions and words, and we can’t ever see walking up to us without feeling just a tiny bit uneasy or uncomfortable inside.

And, for my family as well as Pinkie Pie, no more often does this one person or individual seem to arise than in someone we know’s choice in a relationship.

In my own family, we’ve had numerous outings or get-togethers in which individuals were invited to welcome their respective boyfriends/girlfriends/significant others, only for things to get uncomfortable when said individuals begin to interact with everyone. Sometimes it’s from a legitimate bad habit that we find hard to ignore. Sometimes it’s just an unreasonable fixation that isn’t really fair. Sometimes it’s like in this episode–an individual who is the sort that only a select few are able to connect with and whose behavior can be alienating or strange to others, which is certainly true for many people.

Sometimes, however, it’s something that’s a bit more legitimate cause for concern. Perhaps the individual in question has a bit of a “checkered” past, especially with their own former boyfriends and girlfriends. Perhaps they come from a very different background than the family member or friend in question. Perhaps that same background also means they have much different values from those of the friend or family member.

And for the Christian, there is a special concern that comes when seeing a friend or family member who is also Christian pairing up with a nonbeliever.

In modern US society and culture, the whole fairy tale idea of “love conquers all” is still heavily espoused and endorsed, with the idea that any couple can stay together so long as their love is strong and true. As a result of that, we have record divorce rates in this country; indicating exactly what happens when decisions are made based solely on a feeling that people weren’t sure would grow colder with time. It’s not one of the more popular messages from the Bible and probably one that many Christians think can be ignored, but it does clearly say: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)

Without going around pointing fingers at all non-Christians and shouting “Wicked!” and “Darkness!”, it’s a fact that a practicing Christian and a non-Christian in the same relationship will probably run into some friction at some point. Christians are called to abstain and refrain from a great number of behaviors and interests that we see as immoral, impure, or unrighteous that non-Christians don’t have to worry about. Many also have a devotional life of which Church attendance is regular that might not sound too appealing to a non-Christian. On the other hand, non-Christians who are agnostic or atheistic might excuse themselves from much of the life practices of the Christian partner as a way of compromise, but they’ll still be a constant exposure to a non-Christian way of living and likely have to constantly hear about things they don’t (or won’t) believe in from their partner. And if the non-Christian happens to be a follower of a different religion, that creates tension of an entirely different sort if both members of the relationship are regularly practicing. That’s to say nothing of the issues that might arise in regards to shared use of money, time and talents, what should and should not be allowed in the house, how to raise children, how to bury dead relatives, etc.

Many Christians in a relationship with non-Christians may hold to the idea that they can be the ones who “lead them to Christ”, and I will admit that’s a distinct possibility. I feel everyone eventually feels a need to conform more to those around them whenever they’re surrounded by an alternative lifestyle or culture, whether subconsciously or consciously. However, as a Christian myself, I know that I’m often weak, and I know all Christians can fall away or slip if we’re not vigilant. “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.'” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Hence, the opposite could just as easily be true. Getting in a relationship is exposing yourself at your most intimate to someone else. In a sense, it is the most emotionally and mentally disarmed you will ever be around someone. That is why so many people are cautioned to be on guard from being lured into mentally and emotionally abusive relationships as a result of exposing themselves so much to people they barely know. However, the same also goes for a relationship being the point at which one is their most spiritually disarmed. An individual’s partner is likely the first person who will respond to them when they are at their most weak and vulnerable, and at that time their support, advice, and outlook on a problem will be the first thing they look to and rely upon. That includes who or what they look to when they feel they are abandoned by God or helpless and hopeless.

Many people, especially older individuals, understand this well and that it applies to everything; whether it be in regards to Christianity or not. As such, there can be a considerable amount of stress on seeing a friend or family member pair with someone based solely on, by all outward appearances, nothing but initial romantic affection when the individual in question seems, but all outward appearances, to be no good for him or her. And often this leads to a reprisal–with anywhere from hostility at family events; to outright banning individuals from social gatherings; to, in some cases, even going as far as to try and physically separate the two (as some parents might attempt using both legal and purely physical means).

It’s true that nothing is set in stone and that one can’t predict or prejudge how things will certainly end. It’s also true that history tends to repeat itself in most occasions and the old adage of “if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck” is also usually true. It’s also true that younger folks don’t know as much about themselves and who they are (much less other people and what they need out of them) as they would like to think…which is why most youngsters are encouraged to date rather than settle down with their first crush as a life partner. However, it’s also true that you can’t control other people and they need to make their own mistakes, and trying to force someone into a situation where someone else makes their decisions for them, including in their relationships, will only make things worse in the long run–especially if it incites rebellion or opposition.

Taking all of that together, I ultimately believe that if you are in a position where you see a loved one getting into what appears, by all accounts, to be a bad relationship headed for disaster that it is perfectly acceptable to talk out in a calm and rational manner why you think it’s a bad idea and to even set some boundaries about behaviors that will not be condoned or supported if they are engaged in (provided there is proper justification). Yet once all of that is done, I believe it’s foolishness to try and physically stop one individual from being with another. That only breeds resentment, anger, and defiance; even if most people would see the move as perfectly justified. As painful as it may be, there comes a point where we should stand aside and let an individual make their own choices, whether they end up as successes or mistakes.

It is, after all, ultimately an individual’s own responsibility to take charge of who they let in and out of their life–not anyone else’s. Part and parcel with that is also learning to understand and care for oneself emotionally and to realize what they need and why they are attracted to the people they long for.

For the rest of us, once we’ve laid out our case, all that’s left is to “let go and let God”; perhaps praying that whoever we’re feeling standoffish about ends up being just another Mud Brier.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that even when I see those I love around me entering into what I feel is a dangerous or destructive situation, especially with someone else, that you are still in control. Help me to trust to always put my faith in you first. Please deliver me from all my irrational fears and prejudgments, and for all my rational and justified fears please help me to convey to all those I love my care and concern for them in a loving, Christ-like manner, and then to commit them to you with total faith and trust. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #130: “Trust Me”

Tags

acceptance, Applejack, backstabbing, betrayal, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, faith, fandom, Fluttershy, Gladmane, God, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, secrets, trust, Viva Las Pegasus

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Viva Las Pegasus”

Most of this episode centers around the owner of a resort in Las Pegasus named Gladmane who has some of the most talented performers in Equestria working under him, although each one is talented enough to move onto bigger and better things if they want. On the surface, it seems that they stay purely out of loyalty, as Gladmane prides himself on being everyone’s “friend” and keeping them happy. Yet it turns out as the episode progresses that all is a farce. In truth, he keeps the performers poisoned against each other and constantly fighting so that they won’t ever pair up long enough to leave him for better deals or greater success. Yet because he acts so friendly and concerned all the time, no one ever suspects anything. They assume he has their best interest at heart the entire time, when in reality he was taking their trust and faith in him and violating it.

One of the greatest sins that can be committed, not only in terms of damage it does externally but also internally, emotionally, and spiritually, is betrayal. Taking someone’s complete trust and then purposely and willfully violating it completely. It’s such a terrible crime that when Dante wrote the “Inferno” he made it the worst possible sin in Hell…one Satan himself is guilty of. And as anyone who has ever suffered betrayal in one form or another knows, what it leaves behind is terrible. A more recent example in history is the people who sunk their life savings into Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme and will now never see a fraction of that money back, nor will any amount of time he spends in prison undo it. Debatably, such a crime does far worse damage than theft, burglary, or property damage, even though those crimes usually carry stiffer penalties.

Betrayal is a crime against trust. We all know that we take a chance when we trust people with anything. Some risks are small and some are high, and how much we trust someone with is a measure of faith we put into other people. How badly that trust is violated hurts our faith in others that much worse. It’s likely that those victims of Madoff will never trust anyone with a single dollar of theirs again, even if a different investor has a good chance of recuperating at least some of their losses. Nor are they likely to trust anyone else asking for money, such as a charitable organization that fulfills a genuine need or a church asking for a tithe. In that sense, the wound of betrayal continues to linger on and impacts others downstream.

While many of us may be lucky enough to have not been a victim of a loss of retirement or savings, chances are all of us have had to deal with betrayal before. Some of us have been have had it come from someone we genuinely trusted and perhaps even loved. And it’s likely to have impacted how we regard others in the future and how we treat them. The emotional wound that it leaves behind is terrible, because it doesn’t easily heal. Having exposed ourselves to the chance of being hurt so badly before, it is unlikely after feeling that pain that we’ll ever want to expose ourselves again. It can lead us to locking other people out, keeping them at arm’s length, or simply shunning the company of others. It can also lead to warping our perspective of humanity rather badly.

But the worst impact of all is how it effects us in our relationship with God.

A good part of Christianity is based on faith and trust in God. It’s the ultimate foundation for our faith, right back in the Old Testament with the patriarch Abraham, (“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6) and stemming all the way to the Apostle Paul (“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). In between, from Moses to Joshua to Samuel to Daniel to Solomon to Mary to Jesus Himself and with everyone else who came before and after them, it was all about acts of faith and trust in God. But if we’ve been betrayed in the past, we’re likely not to have much trust in others; including God. And if we’ve been betrayed by a different religion or even a “Christian” Church, then that much more less so because that’s what we associated God with.

On a personal note, I know someone who’s suffered most of their life with feelings of distrust toward others. They feared that they can never expose the truth about themselves and certain things they’ve done because no one would ever look at them the same way. Yet this dishonesty, both with themselves and others, did nothing to help anything. By thinking they couldn’t expose it to others, they ended up thinking that a part of them was evil and unlovable…both to others and to God. And that came out in a brutal way when they finally did confess, and it almost ended up disastrously. And that’s bad any way you look at it.

As Christians, it’s not only important to recognize God is love (1 John 4:8), but to also accept it. If we fail to do so, if we see God as only a judge and someone “out to get us”, we’ll never fully trust God to forgive us of our sins; much less be with us in difficulty or in whatever he calls us to do. And if we don’t trust God to be with us to lead us and guide us in times of trouble, and we don’t trust that God loves us, then we won’t act from that perspective and do anything for the Kingdom of God, because we feel we’ll be “on our own” everywhere we go.

While it’s important to be careful about whom we choose to trust, we can’t go through life never trusting anyone. As I mentioned in earlier devotionals, humans are social creatures. We need relationships to live: both with God and with others. Anything less is failing to live as a human and sentencing us to a miserable life. But if our trust is violated, or we never had much trust in others to begin with, how do we learn to trust other people?

That’s not an easy answer, especially to someone who has had their trust violated. It might require psychiatric help or counselling, or facing up to a lot of painful things. I have no universal answer because all people are unique. Yet from my perspective, the biggest thing I can encourage is we need to take a chance to at least look for someone to trust. When one is emotionally wounded, the only way to ever be cured is to risk getting hurt again, unfortunately. We have to find someone we are willing to take a chance on trusting. (That’s also why I suggest a professional, because they, at least, are required by law to keep your secrets or they can’t practice.) Once we’ve experienced that we can trust someone with who we are, and all of what we are, we can accept that others, including God, will do the same.

As uneasy, uncomfortable, and fearful as this might be, I strongly urge anyone wrestling with this trust issue to do so. Don’t be like the person I knew and spend years of your life needlessly living in fear of what will happen if people know the “real you”. Remember, God already knows the real you and accepts you completely (Jeremiah 1:5).

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that you have promised to never leave me or forsake me, and that this saying is trustworthy even in the darkest of times. If I am having trouble accepting this, or having trouble placing my trust in others, especially if I am still hurting from an earlier betrayal, please help me to open my heart to others once again and to seek the help I need to open up once again. In doing so, I will be better able to minister to others and fulfill the Kingdom of God. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

 

My Little Devotional #121: “Lover’s Leap”

Tags

abuse, addiction, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, codependence, cycles, devotional, dread, enabling, faith, fear, Flutter Brutter, Fluttershy, God, independence, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, responsibility, self-reliance, trust, Zephyr Breeze

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Flutter Brutter”

Ever hear of the expression “tough love”? I’m sure you have. For most of us, we never have to see it put into practice. But a lot of us do, and, with the current situation in American society, I imagine more of us will have to do it as time goes on.

The core idea behind “tough love” is doing or (usually more appropriately) not doing something for an individual that may seem to be an act of cruelty or heartlessness, but is really designed for their benefit. It’s not to be confused with codependence, controlling, or manipulative behaviors; although such things may be misconstrued as love when they’re really a form of abuse or even addiction. On the contrary, it’s usually quite the opposite–designed to break one of the aforementioned behaviors.

This episode illustrates a good example. Zephyr Breeze obviously suffered from a lack of self-confidence and sense of self-efficacy–having a fear of failure when trying to do anything independently. As a result, he had grown to the point where he naturally depended on other people to not only do everything for him but had altered his own behavior to be manipulative and intentionally slacking, so that others would grow frustrated with him and do the tasks themselves; thereby absolving him of any need to do things for himself or assert his independence…and consequently allow him to continue his dependent behavior.

Yet this was also an example of codependence. The only way this sort of individual can really get away with this behavior is if they have enablers, and he did in the form of his parents. Unwilling to be faced with the thought of their son being unemployed and homeless with no means to support himself, and not wanting to be “cruel” in that regard, they instead kept bailing him out whenever he quit something. As a result, Zephyr never felt any pressure to make any changes in his life or try to do anything for himself. Furthermore, he could always go back to his parents with the threat of being left alone and homeless and count on them to bail him out. Both parties were involved in a vicious cycle of sustaining each other’s bad choices, which is codependence.

The solution was as Fluttershy pointed out: break the cycle. She had to get her parents to essentially kick Zephyr out, and later she had to kick him out herself. Only then was he forced to try to get by on his own and, as a result, be willing to finish his education to try and become independent without making excuses or worming his way out of responsibility. At that point, Zephyr finally started to learn some personal initiative and independence, and his parents were free to get on with their retirement. But it didn’t come without cost. Zephyr had to be allowed to struggle and fail at eeking out a pathetic living in Everfree Forest first, which, considering the number of dangerous creatures that have been shown to dwell in it in the past, might have represented a threat to life and limb, but also made him miserable enough to want to change.

In my experience, “tough love” is a rather hard subject for a lot of Christians. There’s the fact that many people who became Christians as adults were in bad spots where there was toxic love or even an absence of it. Many of them probably needed someone with compassion and understanding to come into their lives rather than someone who was more strict and took harder lines. Yet even if that’s not the case, one of the big maxims of Christianity is to give people another chance who most would feel do not deserve one, and to forgive our brothers “seventy times seven times” (Matthew 18:22). If we’re dealing with someone who is addicted or has a codependent personality, and who has consequently drawn us into it, all of these represent barriers to wanting to break the cycle as we may feel we aren’t being a true “loving” and “forgiving” Christian if we do that.

Those factors may make tough love difficult, yet what makes it nearly impossible is when the addict or codependent in question is our own loved ones. Then, on top of everything we’ve learned from Christianity, we have the thought of abandoning someone very important to us. The thought that they will suffer discomfort or harm if we cut them off. In the most extreme cases, such as when the individual in question is engaged in drug abuse or sexual misconduct, we might even reasonably fear that the individual could suffer death. Now…when we are faced with the choice of either continuing codependent behavior or having the codependent actually die, we naturally think there’s only one choice to make…and it’s definitely not breaking the cycle.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First, when you, or anyone, is a child, they are not responsible for what happens to them. But when you, or anyone, becomes an adult, now they are fully responsible not only for what happens to them but how they respond and the choices they make. If a person is caught in an addictive, unhealthy lifestyle and they know it, and they have reached a point where their life is in danger, as scary and hard as this may be to accept…that individual is there by their choices and no one is responsible for the outcome, no matter how brutal, except for them. I wish I could say that what we fear the most will happen to those people will never happen. I can’t. Yet those same people will never have any reason to stop subjecting themselves to that danger if someone keeps “rescuing” them. No one will ever want to get themselves out of a situation, no matter how self-destructive, that feels perfectly comfortable and has no lasting negative consequences. Only when it becomes too painful to feel “good” anymore is there a personal motivation to get out. Like with Fluttershy, someone has to break off the toxic relationship. While I can attest personally that it is occasionally the addict/codependent themselves, it’s far more likely it will have to be the enabler. After all, they’re the source of the “comfort”.

Second, the Bible encourages reliance and dependence on God, but it never advocates the same reliance and dependence as an excuse for personal inaction and personal irresponsibility. All humans have free will. We have the choice to do good or bad, but also choices in regards to how we live our lives, what we learn, what we hear or refuse to listen to, how we respond to difficulties, how we work, how we raise our families, and all the individual choices we make during the day. That will and capability entitles responsibility on our part. And it did in the Bible. God told Abraham to get up and leave the land of his fathers to become a great nation (Genesis 12:1-4), but he didn’t pick him up and relocate him there. God gave the ancient Israelites the Passover (Exodus 12:1-13) but they had to follow the guidelines to ensure the Angel of Death passed over them. God also didn’t just teleport all the Israelites to Canaan, and say: “There you go. Enjoy.” They had to journey there themselves and then decide for themselves to take it, to either believe in God’s promise or be too scared of their own shortcomings (Joshua 1:1-9, Joshua 24:15).

And when they did possess it, it was their responsibility to keep the commandments of the Law that God gave them. He promised them blessings if they kept it and curses if they did not (Deuteronomy 28). And when the Israelites started to disobey God by following the idols of the surrounding countries, he progressively stopped protecting them from their surrounding nations–ones that they were only able to stand against to begin with because of God. And when they still refused to keep the Law, he let it get worse until they decided to turn around. This wasn’t God so much purposely sending destruction upon Israel as simply standing aside and letting them get what he warned them about if they chose to follow the gods of other nations and all of their following practices. It didn’t make sense to keep having them be the “blessed nation of God” when they weren’t even trying not to sin, let alone keep his commandments. And it was only after the fall of Israel and the Babylonian Exile that they did begin to return to him, after they faced the consequences of their actions (Nehemiah 9).

Likewise, Jesus was certainly loving and forgiving, but He also showed tough love. When others made excuses not to follow Him, He was quite blunt about the choices they had to make (Luke 9:57-62). He freely warned His disciples of the penalties for not heeding His words as well (Matthew 22:1-14, 25:31-46). And when it came to His miracles in the Bible, it was often a result of the person coming to Him first, of wanting “to be made well” (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 1:40-42, 7:24-30, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 7:36-50). He was indeed approachable by and a friend to the outcasts of His society, but it was the outcasts that flocked to Him first. They were looking for repentance and redemption, or wanted to do so after listening to Him preaching. Even in Jesus’ miracles, and especially in our own choice whether or not to accept Jesus Christ’s offer of Salvation, there is an element of conscious action on our part. A responsibility that Jesus doesn’t allow us to shy away from.

It’s also fairly obvious that if God was to immediately provide us with food, clothing, and shelter just from us sitting around and praying, it wouldn’t be long before we’d stop being human and start being idle sheep. Not only would we see no need to go out in the world to reach other people, we’d see no reason to do anything for or with anyone period. And if we are in a habitual sin and suffering sever consequences for it and praying to God for deliverance, it would also not be responsible of God to spare us the consequence so that we could go on sinning and destroying ourselves and potentially others.

As someone who has had experiences with needing to exercise “tough love” before, my encouragement to anyone who finds themselves in a situation like this episode (or worse) is to try and see the situation as God does. God loves us all unconditionally more than we’ll ever know…and it’s because he loves us so much that he won’t let us stay in a cycle of abuse or dependence by making it “easy on us”. May we have the prudence, bravery, and faith to do the same.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, in all the times of my life I needed a change or to leave my situation, I thank you for making it ‘uncomfortable’ and unpleasant to the point of driving me out, even if I didn’t appreciate it at the time. If I find myself trapped in a cycle of dependence, please give me the wisdom, prudence, bravery, and, above all, the faith to do what needs to be done and to depend on you to take care of the rest. Let my trust in you be strong enough to make that bold step of faith. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #116: “Forgive-Me-Not”

Tags

betrayal, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, cold, detached, distant, exposed, fandom, forgiveness, God, hard, hard-hearted, hurt, Jesus, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, No Second Prances, Old Testament, open, reconciliation, Starlight Glimmer, The Great and Powerful Trixie, Trixie Lulamoon, trust, Twilight Sparkle

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “No Second Prances”

I liked this episode on its own to begin with, but on thinking about it while considering a message for today’s devotional I realized something new about it.

Former-villain-and-new-friendship-student Starlight Glimmer is tasked with making a new friend in Ponyville, but is constantly beset, internally and externally, with the fact that her background makes her rather untrustworthy. Nevertheless, she finally believes she succeeds in making a friend on her own when she finds an individual who shares a history of being a former villain: Trixie Lulamoon aka “The Great and Powerful Trixie”. Things go sour, however, later in the episode when Trixie accidentally reveals she only initially made friends with Starlight in order to show up Twilight Sparkle. Yet on realizing that she really wanted to be friends with Starlight, Trixie ends up not only apologizing but is willing to do “penance” in the form of doing a trick that could kill her if Starlight doesn’t help her out.And as for Starlight? She has to make the choice of whether or not she wants to forgive Trixie for her treachery.

Initially I keyed in on the title on thinking it referred to how the two main characters of this episode were both former villains, but on thinking about it harder I realized that Starlight Glimmer found herself in an interesting position toward the end. She herself had been wronged by an individual, and now she had to decide whether or not to forgive them for what they had done. Normally Starlight goes around asking other ponies for forgiveness for her own actions, but now she was faced with a similar situation…in which she had been hurt and now had to decide if the one who wronged her deserved another chance.

I’ll be bold enough to say that my life has been a lot better than that of most people’s, and I’ve been spared a great deal of misery. Yet one bad thing I can claim I have experience with is being in a situation where someone I loved backstabbed me and those I cared about, not once but multiple times, causing a lot of hurt and pain that drove me to rage against them…and I was given the opportunity to forgive them or not.

This wasn’t nearly as easy or simple of a situation as one might think. I don’t think anyone can really appreciate how much of a challenge this is unless, unfortunately, it happens to you. If some stranger or acquaintance does something against you and says they’re sorry later, that’s one thing. Even if a friend does it, one can eventually move on, with or without some lasting bitterness.

But when someone you love and trust does it, and when you feel the pain of your heart breaking and the hollow state of having been backstabbed, it’s something else. David expressed the bitterness of this sort of situation in Psalm 55. “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.”(Psalm 55:12-14)

The end result of this sort of betrayal, I can say from this sort of experience, is usually growing hard-hearted in response. That’s something easy to glance over and read over, but, again, this is something that is a lot more potent when it happens to you than when you read it on a blog. People have the myth in mind that you become cold and emotionally detached from people in this situation just out of anger, spite, or carrying a grudge, but that’s not it. When someone you love seriously wrongs you and leaves you hurting and wounded emotionally as a result, it’s a defensive mechanism. You’re tired of being hurt by these people and you don’t want to hurt anymore. So you block them out of your heart and mind and grow aloof to them, just so that you’re no longer exposed and giving them an opportunity to injure you emotionally…sometimes even physically.

In this case, forgiveness becomes two things. One: it becomes overwhelmingly difficult. You know full well if you open up to this person again you’re exposing a scar and daring them to stab it again, and you’re supposed to trust that they won’t even if they already broke that trust once already…or perhaps even multiple times. There have been incidents when I have forgiven an individual only to have them turn around do the same thing again. Naturally, if they seek forgiveness later after that, it becomes even harder to forgive because now in addition to the increased hurt you have a voice telling you that you’re being a fool for even considering it. (And, in some cases, that’s an accurate statement.)

Two: forgiveness stops even being a factor in the equation. It’s human nature to seek retribution for injury, especially if the injury done to us was particularly painful. I didn’t want to forgive this person; if for no other reason than to make them feel a measure of the hurt it felt like when someone you loved turns away from you so brutally. Why should I want to do anything for them? Why not let them “rot”?

The fact of the matter is right now I’m dealing with whether or not to forgive someone in my own life. This is another individual who has taken past offers of forgiveness and reconciliation and has eventually torn them up and thrown them in the dumpster.Some of the things he did not only hurt ones I love in the emotional sense but the physical one, and there was a time where he was spending more time in jail than holding a job. By most people’s standards, this individual is “human trash” and only an idiot would be willing to give him the time of day no matter how much he claims to have repented. At this point he’s fully in the realm of a lost cause and he should be shunned and avoided; for one’s own protection if nothing else. The fact that he’s back in Church, holding a job, and seeking help for his own mental problems should be irrelevant. It might be good in any case not to trust him, but it also seems perfectly justified to carry bitterness and resentment toward him.To treat him like an unwanted creature and let him know, both verbally and nonverbally, that I will always hate him and shun him.

Yet at times like this, I try to remember the parables of Jesus. Many of them dealt with the topic of forgiveness, and how, difficult as it is, one must be willing to do it. (See the parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Matthew 18:21-35). I think about all the times this individual sought forgiveness only to relapse into his old ways, and how the world would say each time is further evidence that I need to hold onto my anger toward this individual and feel justified in shunning him. How the world would render most relationships irreparable after two or three infractions at most. Yet then I think of how many times I asked God to forgive me for a sin only to relapse into it, and I expect God to be just as ready to forgive me not only the second or third time but often the fiftieth or sixtieth time. That is truly why it is said: “To err is human; to forgive divine.”

While there are certain measures one must take to ensure that they are protected from being hurt a second time (because gaining forgiveness is not necessarily the same as gaining trust, and if the only thing different about the individual is them saying they’re sorry without committing to change or getting help they need that is a warning sign), one of the biggest demands Lord Jesus had of us as Christians is to forgive others. However, it was indeed a demand for a Christian way of life and not merely a “suggestion” or “guideline”. Simply put: if we expect God to forgive us, we have to be willing to do the same. C.S. Lewis once said: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” That means every time someone turns back to us saying they’re sorry and seeking forgiveness genuinely, even if its for the tenth time in a single day, we have to be willing to give it to them. We have to be willing to be “exposed”. And in some cases, we have to be humble enough to let go of our grudge and past hurt.

Remember, there’s been times in our lives when we’ve all been a “Starlight” or “Trixie” and we sought forgiveness and reconciliation. Let’s keep that in mind when we are faced with the same choice.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, I can never thank you enough for the gracious gift of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died to pay the penalty of all of my sins so that I could have everlasting life and be with you in Heaven forever. Please help me to live every day for you in all ways, and help me to follow the example of Jesus…including in regards to forgiving others. As I have been forgiven, help me always to do the same to others who seek it from me. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #105: “Trust Me”

Tags

Bible, character, Christian Life, dependency, devotional, dishonesty, faithful, faithfulness, God, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, Pinkie Pie, reliance, secrets, The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows, trust, trustworthiness, trustworthy

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows”

Pinkie Pie had the tables turned on her in this episode. Way back in “Green Isn’t Your Color”, she constantly gave Twilight Sparkle the stink eye any moment that it looked as if she would have exposed the secrets that Rarity and Fluttershy were keeping from each other (even if it would have been beneficial for both of them to know the truth in that particular case). Yet in this episode, the naturally talkative pony finds herself needing to keep a genuine secret and struggles continuously to avoid telling anyone the news to not spoil a surprise; namely that Twilight herself is going to be an aunt. As Pinkie would love telling anyone exciting news like that or doing anything to “spread the fun around”, she finds herself rather taxed to try and keep her snout shut.

This episode made me think about something I once heard. I think it was the comedian Lewis Black who pointed out that modern US society doesn’t have a privacy problem but rather a “secrecy” one. To a large extent I think he was right. True, a lot of people talk about the need for privacy and the threat to personal security due to the dawn of the information age, and it’s never been easier to steal someone’s identity and do tremendous damage. And yet, on the flip side, everyone posts all of their thoughts, actions, achievements, and even embarrassment online for all the world to see so often that it’s almost astonishing.

We hear stories of criminals being arrested because they bragged of their crimes online, employees being fired because they posted pictures of themselves doing lewd acts on the job, cyberbullying that drives students to change schools or commit suicide, and all getting thrown around the world so fast that strangers could know about it before close friends or family, or even those involved, do. It seems everyone is eager for everyone to know everything interesting about them and everyone else they know. Getting a large number of hits or likes for things we post is a mark of distinction and personal pride, driving many of us to try and post more information and search for anything we can dig up that’s clever or exciting. And all of this has pretty much led to the opposite of a crisis of privacy. The real epidemic is a desire to not have any privacy or, at minimum, to desire no privacy for anyone else but ourselves. Small wonder that many people in different occupations either avoid social media like the plague or create a pseudonym to avoid it getting “tainted”.

In this environment, secret-keeping is harder than ever. Everyone posts everything online. Not just secrets but everything. And this, in turn, is endemic of a more serious problem. Part of the reason we’re so eager to spill secrets and anything else we come across now is since everyone has access to everyone else via the Internet, what we now define as our society of peers has broadened. As a result, what seems to be the norm has also expanded; and, to anyone who has been around the Internet long enough, not necessarily to a very courteous or “real-world acceptable” degree. For wherever there is society, there’s always one side effect of the social climate: behavior is acceptable or “ok” so long as everyone does it, and therefore the more one sees it the more they are encouraged to do it.

To hint at a mild and innocuous example, any fellow fan of “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” knows that the season finale for Season Six was leaked almost a month in advance. Such things had happened before and many of us, I assume, would want to wait to be surprised or, if not, would recognize that others might want it to be kept a secret until the episode actually debuted. And yet, thanks to the Internet, clips from the episode were showing up all over online, turning up on search results even if people didn’t want to look for them, and spoiling crucial and plot items details before they were revealed. Once it was spoiled, many no doubt decided to watch it anyway since “they already knew”, while others perhaps promulgated it because “everyone else was doing it”. Then came reviews and commentaries and fanart and the like based around that episode; all of which normally comes out when the episode debuts but, as someone or multiple “someones” wanted to get the “scoop” on it, put content out early, and then everyone else didn’t want to be left behind. Soon it was everywhere so that you had to take steps to avoid it rather than find it. And all before the actual episode finally debuted.

That illustrates the basic principle: it’s always easier to be the one to spill the beans when you think something is already spilled. And, in a more general sense, it’s always easier to do negative behavior, whether it was something like leaking a pirated episode or something more severe like joining in on shaming a classmate, being occupationally dishonest, or simply leaking a secret, when you see other people doing it. After all, it’s already taking place anyway…what harm is it to join in?

At times like this, it’s important for the Christian to remember that they are the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). It’s also important to remember that the Christian lifestyle often encourages us to separate from other parts of society in terms of behavior (and not just in things like condemning homosexual marriage). “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

I think a great time to do that is when we see widespread behavior going on that’s wrong, and we feel ourselves pressured to adopt it due to society yet we know what the Bible says about it. Then seems to be the best point to take a stand against it. That includes not stirring the pot of hateful speech or comments, not using social media as a way to get even or feel justified over others, and, in the case of secret keeping, to realize that being entrusted with a secret is someone willing to make an investment in your personally-most-valuable commodity: your word.

At all times, one of the most important things that a Christian, or anyone, can do is be a person of their word. “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-7) “Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” (Numbers 30:1-2) “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.” (Proverbs 11:13) 

There’s nothing more valuable when it is intact, and nothing that loses its value more quickly when taken for granted. To have everyone trust you implicitly when you say you will or won’t do something is a mark of value that is greater than anything you possess, and something Christians should safeguard as carefully as possible to live up to the commission of Lord Jesus. Especially today when everywhere in society from top to bottom, whether it be politics, media, our place of business, or online, encourages us to expect a certain degree of dishonesty and un-trustworthiness from everyone.

May we all as Christians always balk that trend, and always prove ourselves as trustworthy and faithful as our God is.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that you are always true and faithful in every word you have spoken, and that you are trustworthy in all you promise and faithful in all your works. Please help me to be found as trustworthy and dependable in all that I say and do, so that I might better demonstrate the faithfulness of God in my own life and example. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #101: “Wrongfully Accused”

Tags

accusers, Bible, commitment, devotional, endurance, false accusations, falsehood, framing, God, honesty, injustice, inspirational, Jesus, lies, long-suffering, lying, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, patience, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Rarity Investigates!, trust

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Rarity Investigates!”

Everyone loves to be praised for the good they do. Most people probably, if only secretly, like being praised for more than what they did. And if you get reprimanded or blamed for something that was genuinely a fault or crime of yours, you may feel bad but, hopefully, you feel bad more about what you did rather than the fact you were caught.

But something everyone has likely had to deal with at one point in their lives that no one enjoys is what Rainbow Dash got to experience firsthand in this episode: being accused of a wrongdoing you didn’t commit.

Being accused falsely can come from a variety of places. When we’re young, it likely came either from our own siblings or from our peers on the play yard. Goodness knows how many times all of us went through the whole “he/she started it” routine growing up. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop with adulthood. Coworkers, acquaintances, rivals, and sometimes even friends and family can accuse us of something we haven’t done, and the Internet is rife with “trolls” who seem to exist for only that purpose. People who are victims of racism, classism, sexism, or any other ism are beset by these all the time. Christians themselves are constantly accused of being “holier than thou” and anti-women.

Sometimes this is the result of a clear misunderstanding or a case of being “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. But more often, again, especially on the Internet, it’s something far more underhanded.

It’s no coincidence that another name for the devil is “the accuser”, because accusation can be one of the easiest ways to bring evil into the world. If people accuse us of something we haven’t done or didn’t do willfully, they could be trying to discredit us, shame us in the eyes of our friends and coworkers, or put us down so that they can get ahead. That was certainly true of Rainbow Dash, who was framed by Wind Rider for lying to Spitfire so that she would get kicked out of the Wonderbolts. However, yet another far more prevalent evil that could result stems from the desire to defend ourselves.

Now, defending ourselves is only natural when we are accused of something we haven’t done, and often is necessary in the face of potential action being taken against us. The problem is when we are wrongfully accused, especially by people we know, we often let our emotions get the better of us. We desire vengeance and to “get even”. This might prompt us to accuse our accuser in turn, often loudly or angrily, and sometimes with profane language or even actions…all of which, in turn, if they don’t make us look guilty at least serve to make us look bad and justify the claims about us. Worse yet, being accused by someone who had our trust can be permanently damaging, leading us to become callous and distrustful of people in general and ruin our Christian outlook on the world.

The Bible cautions the Christian in this vein, noting that if any of us are ever going to be ardently following God, we have to expect false accusations at one point and likely more than one point. After all, if someone doesn’t like what you’re saying yet they can’t find anything to blame you for, they’ll start making things up. This is inevitable and happened all throughout the Bible.

Joseph had to spend years in prison unjustly because he was falsely accused of adultery (Genesis 39). Moses was constantly accused by his own brethren of leading the Israelites out into the desert to suffer and die (Numbers 14: 1-4, 16:12-15, 20:2-6). David was accused of conspiring against his lord, King Saul, and relentlessly hunted for years for it (1 Samuel 20:24-34). Jeremiah was accused of selling out to Israel’s enemies to discourage Israel, as he preached doom against it for its sins (Jeremiah 37:11-14). Lord Jesus Himself, obviously, was accused of being everything from a revolutionary to being possessed by the devil (Matthew 12:22-32). If even Jesus was accused of being a devil worshiper, then how much more can we expect slander against us?

When this happens, however, the Christian would do well to remember a few things:

1. If the accusation is justified, there is no reason to be angry in the first place, although this will inevitably happen as none of us would like to do something wrong and get caught. Make sure we’re never projecting our anger on someone else and, if genuinely in the wrong, acknowledge it, admit it, confess it, and repent.
2. Never repay evil for evil, even if it’s merited. Losing one’s cool or raging at our accuser is not only discouraged in the Bible (1 Peter 3:9), but this will only justify them and make us look to be in the wrong.
3. It can be especially hard to stay calm when lies end up poisoning our friends and loved ones against us, even if it ends up costing friendships, but try to keep in mind if these individuals really care about you then they’ll be patient enough to hear your side of things first or come around to do so in time. If they immediately side with your accuser, on the other hand, perhaps you’re better off without them.
4. Always remember that all things work out for good for those who are committed to following God, even the worst of times (Romans 8:28). It could be that this is a test to develop your patience and faith in God to act as your vindicator and justifier. Remember, even if it’s hard, that it is more important to be blameless in the sight of God than in the sight of man.

Finally, as a “side message” to this one…

In the book of Daniel, there is a side story (Daniel 13) about an honest and God-fearing woman who was lusted after by two judges, who conspired to rape her in her own garden. When they came on her and she cried for help, they immediately accused her of trying to commit adultery with a younger man who ran off and that they tried to stop it. Without hearing her side of things, everyone fell in behind the judges due to their position and the fact there were two of them with their word against hers, and nearly put her to death for a crime she didn’t commit.

Realize nowadays that in the modern media and society, while our justice system might be innocent until proven guilty, the media is guilty until proven innocent…or, more appropriately, sell whatever story will sell. The next time we find ourselves all-too-eager to jump in with an accuser without knowing all the facts first, or perhaps only hearing one side of the facts that have yet to be substantiated, take a moment to think about how it would feel if you were being accused by this person and were truly innocent, and use that to give yourself patience until you’ve heard everything on both sides.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for all the opportunities you bring into my life to build my endurance, patience, and long-suffering…even if at the time I don’t care for them. If ever I find myself being falsely accused of a crime, please help me to avoid becoming genuinely guilty by sinning as a result of fear and anger. And when confronted with accusations of others, please help me to focus on the truth rather than what people tell me is the truth, and so deal with all people fairly. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #70: “Looking Out for Number One”

Tags

Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, Coco Pommel, dependance, devotional, doing the right thing, fandom, God, honesty, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, Rarity, Rarity Takes Manehattan, reliance, trust

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Rarity Takes Manehattan”

This episode doesn’t focus very much on Coco Pommel’s perspective, but I imagine nearing the end she was feeling rather bad. She realized that her employer had resorted to lying and cheating not only once but twice to swindle her competition out of winning at Fashion Week. That alone probably made her feel rather uncomfortable and dishonest as she, as her “underling”, had gone along with it. But when it became too much for her and she elected to quit her job rather than continue to work for an unethical designer, that likely just compounded her misery. Since we can assume Manehattan is rather like the real Manhattan, there were likely plenty of other designers and aspiring designers more than ready to fill her position, and the market was likely already glutted with those starting out on their own or seeking to become the protege of others. Now she had no job or way to make ends meet and no prospects of another one readily available.

At a time like that, probably one of the last things she felt like doing was tracking Rarity down just to give her the award she had earned when she had already left the competition. It was a big city, after all. And she might have already gone back to Ponyville. And even if she did track her down, she probably wouldn’t be her favorite person to see at the moment since she had silently assented to Suri’s lie by not exposing her earlier. And on top of all of that, it likely wasn’t going to help her deal with her own newfound unemployment. All she could really count on getting from the whole deal was the personal satisfaction of knowing she “did the right thing”.

Yet even though she didn’t plan on it being any benefit to her, Coco ended up with a nice surprise when going out of her way to tell Rarity the truth ended up landing her a new job. By focusing first on doing the right thing, Coco’s other need was taken care of.

I have a family member who has had a rough time in her life up until a few years ago, and while she has gotten to be independent she is far from what people would consider the median standard of living, and financial burdens are a huge problem for her. She was living in the cheapest places to rent (places I’d hate to even sit in, let alone eat and sleep out of with a child), using free public transportation to get everywhere, needing food stamps to get by, and wrestling with trying to spend more time with her daughter in the midst of a hellish daily schedule. But she also recommitted her life to God at the onset of this and was determined to follow Jesus and give what she could although she, like many people, would understandably be able to say they were in too dire financial straits to contribute. Yet she has anyway, and she’s been blessed as a result. She’s continued to have to deal with a number of financial struggles among others, but there’s always been a way out. If she’s had to leave a job, she’s always found another. She’s always found a way to get to her place of business. She even got an opportunity to rent a house for cheap in a much nicer neighborhood.

She’s just one person out of many I’ve heard testimony from who have impressed me with their faith in God. I myself have never been in a situation where I had no choice but to trust God, but I would have understood most of these people if they would have elected to “focus on themselves” given their circumstances. Yet they chose to keep pursuing God in the worst of times, and were blessed accordingly.

A passage from the Bible we all know but I wonder how many of us, myself included, truly believe is in Matthew 6:31-33, when Jesus addressed His disciples: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” My prayer for today is that I will be able to trust in this more; to never think so much of myself, even in the worst of times, that I neglect doing what’s right or what God has commanded me. As Paul says in Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for affirming our worth to you in your sacred Word and that you are always near to those who have committed themselves to following you. Help me to take heart and cling to the promises of the Bible where you have vowed to provide for me so long as I seek you first in my actions and lifestyle, and to have the bravery to trust in this. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #48: “I Think I Can”

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belief, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, doubt, fandom, Fluttershy, God, insecurity, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, self-efficacy, trust

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Hurricane Fluttershy”

If you’re lucky enough to be the kind of person who has a “can-do” attitude, who isn’t ever scared or uncertain about anything, and has total confidence in their ability to succeed no matter what is thrown your way, I commend you. For everyone else, myself included, one of the biggest obstacles to success is chronic insecurity and fear.

I’m highly insecure when it comes to new situations. From an early age, I was often filled with doubt. It probably had to do with the fact I wasn’t the most social due to my Asperger’s…and overweight. Often when I tried to join in with the other kids, I was awkward and stuck out like a sore thumb. On sports I was terrible because I wasn’t athletic, and I usually came in last in everything. I was always more scared of newer things, and when I did try them, naturally, I was terrible at first, but as I seemed to be the last person to try anything I got the idea in my head I wasn’t good at anything. Any big PE or fitness event was an embarrassment because I was always the first to get tired, the slowest, and the least fit…which kind of encouraged me to try less at physical activity (but that’s another story about school fitness plans). I’m not sure if all of that directly sculpted me into my current mentality, but it couldn’t have helped. I’m still highly socially awkward and I’m still terrible at most physical activity.

Yet I think what plagued me the most, what plagues other people with the same problem the most, and what certainly plagued Fluttershy in regards to helping out in generating the tornado, was a defeatist, pessimistic attitude. Growing up I constantly expected the worst from myself. I constantly felt I’d be last at everything. I constantly felt I’d fail at anything new I tried. I constantly thought of myself as lazy and useless. I never expected anything good out of myself because I felt everything was too hard and I was naturally inferior to it. I didn’t believe in my ability to succeed at anything, and if I failed that only confirmed to me how worthless I was. If I succeeded, well…that was just luck or the task was too easy. It never reflected on me being good at anything. Hence, I was caught in a dual-loss situation and I always expected mediocre from myself.

But in my Junior Year in High School, I received some good advice that I’ve kept in mind ever since.

I had this one class where my teacher, who was also a tennis coach for the school and an athlete himself, gave us a course syllabus to sign that included an “expected grade”. I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t want to put down a C even if I only felt I could guarantee that would be what I would get, but I didn’t want to put down an A even if that’s what I really wanted because I wasn’t sure if I could get it.

Before anyone could put anything on it, the teacher shared a story about how when he was around our age he was a tennis player and the school had a special distinction for the tennis players that were in the top five. These were the super-pros, state champions, all-stars, you name it. He said he set for himself the goal that he was going to be the best of the best and the number one position of the top five. So he trained as hard as he could, practiced as hard as he could, and worked and worked…and in the end he made the third position of the top five.

Yet he said that was perfectly fine, because he knew that if he hadn’t aimed for the top spot, he never would have even made it into the top five because he would have expected too little out of himself. He then ordered the entire class to put down an expected grade of an A.

I did and I received an A in the course.

Napoleon Hill once said: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” What the above example and this quote illustrates is that we become what we allow ourselves to dwell on. For a Biblical example I’ll pick on the Israelites who left Egypt during the Exodus. Right before they were set to begin the conquest of Canaan, they sent spies up ahead to reconnoiter the land. Most of those who went over only focused on the size of the enemy nations, the stature of the opposing warriors, and the thickness of the walled cities. Although God had delivered them from the nation of Egypt without a single act of violence necessary on their part, all they focused on was the hardships ahead of them. Not only in the Promised Land, but also along the journey, whether it had been lack of water, lack of food, lack of meat, or even a long time waiting for Moses to come off of a mountain. In spite of how many times God had delivered them and led them, they always focused on the difficulty ahead until that was all they could think about. They concluded the conquest was impossible and wanted to revolt and return to Egypt.

However, two of those who went over, Joshua and Caleb, didn’t join with the others. “And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”” (Numbers 14:6-9) Unlike the others, Joshua and Caleb didn’t focus on the monumental task ahead of them, but rather on the power of God and on the promise he had given them. All they concentrated on was that God had vowed to give them the land and to remove everyone who opposed them and they had faith that it would be so. They didn’t continuously tell themselves how inadequate they were or how they were doomed to fail, but that they were going to succeed and triumph. And as a result, only those two out of that generation of Israel ever set foot on the Promised Land.

The ability to believe that you can and will do something, or even will excel at something, is integral to maximizing your potential. Psychologists refer to it as self-efficacy; belief in yourself to be capable of success. And the Bible makes it clear the ultimate reason to have a healthy sense of self-efficacy is when one bases their trust in God and his Purpose. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phillipians 4:13). “So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”” (Hebrews 13:6). “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.” (Psalm 27:3)

When God has given us a purpose for our lives or declared a promise over us, he does not necessarily promise that getting there will be easy or won’t involve any work on our part, but he does promise us “final victory”, and he would never call us to have success in something we were not capable of being successful in. The question now is if we believe enough in the promise of God to override our own doubt and fear and be all that we can be; to shut out all the voices saying we’re too weak or too incompetent and instead listen to the Voice of God telling us he will not abandon or forsake us.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that you never leave any promise unfulfilled and that you are faithful in all things. When we receive your call to action, please help us to remember that you are greater than the world; including our own doubts, insecurities, and fears. Help us to focus on your ultimate victory rather than our own human weakness and aspire to the same. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Devotional #31: “Patience Nothing!”

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anxiety, Apple Bloom, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, faith, fandom, God, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, patience, promises, seasons, trust, waiting, worry, Zecora

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “The Cutie Pox”

In today’s episode, Apple Bloom learned the hard way that there are no “shortcuts” for certain moments in your life. No way to speed up certain things. Rather, you have to wait for them to take place at the proper time. In a similar vein, I think of how it is important to wait for things according to “God’s Schedule” rather than when we think the time is right.

Everyone has prayers they pray to God that they wish would be fulfilled sooner rather than later. We may pray for little things like “perks” for ourselves, such as help on an exam or to win a game or something. We may pray for things that are more serious such as being able to get to work on an icy day without hitting anything or for our kids to be safe at school. Going higher than that, if we’re in poverty or dire straits, we may be praying for the money to pay a rent or utility bill we don’t know how we’ll afford, or for the strength to tithe or volunteer or witness when we’re overworked at home and our jobs and our wallets are empty. Then, of course, there are the most serious problems…such as deliverance from a persecutor, a miracle in time of terminal illness, or for a family member who has gone astray and we honestly don’t know whether or not they’re safe at the moment or lying dead in a gutter.

Solomon said in the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

But in times of extreme difficulty, it can be more than a little hard to hang on to these words. Or at times when we’re at the point where we don’t know if we’re going to make it to next month, next week, or tomorrow without a specific answer from God. I’m not necessarily talking about all situations of difficulty, but rather I am talking specifically about ones where we know we should act in one way to remain in accordance with God’s Will and it doesn’t seem to be producing the desired result. Therefore we have the temptation to basically “do it our own way”.

I’ll give an example from my own experience. As I mentioned before, there were certain members of my family who were coping with addiction. As a result of their addiction, they blew a lot of opportunities, eventually losing their license, their opportunity for a college education, a good place to live, and gainful employment. There were times in which they expressed regret and tried to “come home”. Now, obviously, we had been praying for this family member to get clean and come to their senses, but we didn’t pay as much attention to the ideas of “repentance”, personal accountability, and “tough love”, which the Bible addresses. To quote some examples, Proverbs 19:19, “A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.” and Galatians 6:5, “For each will have to bear his own load.”

We saw this family member had a great deal of financial troubles that they had gotten themselves into as a natural consequence of their addiction and were causing them trouble, and we wanted to help…mostly because we were afraid if they remained in a poor economic state they would relapse. So we disregarded the ideas of “tough love” and instead figured that we were going to help get this individual clean now by bailing them out. Well…the end result was probably as you can expect. Rather than help anything, we became enablers. After burning through thousands the individual resumed their addiction and the cycle repeated itself. Not once but multiple times.

Finally, after enough of this, the individual in question obeyed 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15, “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” It wasn’t us who did it, but rather the addict. By the Grace of God, it was the “sinner” in this case who realized that they were being enabled and so literally cut all ties to the family and refused to tell them where they were or what they were doing for a few days, and then only arranged short meetings. My family was devastated. They constantly lived in fear and depression about what was happening to this individual and constantly feared they were relapsing. But where the family had constantly tried to “work on their own schedule rather than God’s”, the addict in question realized they would never get clean and, more importantly, learn personal responsibility and maturity if the family just kept bailing them out of every difficulty. It wasn’t until they moved into parasite-infested public housing in a dismal part of a dismal town working horrendous jobs and still barely able to make ends meet, especially since they had to rely on public transportation, and was able to slowly “crawl their way up” from that in which the individual realized if they wanted to “stand alone” they couldn’t waste time on addiction. The individual returned to Church and got counseling for themselves rather than let the family pay for it, and finally they got clean.

God did answer the prayers of my family, but the thing is He could have answered our prayers sooner if we had been content to let this individual bail themselves out of their own problems. Because we tried to answer it in our “own way”, we wasted years on codependency and enabling.

The Bible is full of examples of people who paid the price for “losing patience with God”. It was because of this Moses and the Egyptian-leaving Israelites never set foot on the Promised Land. It was because of this that King Saul and his family lost the monarchy of Israel. It was because of this that the ancient kings eventually followed pagan gods and relied on foreign alliances that not only ruined their relationship with God but destroyed Israel and Judah. All serve as a testament for “losing patience” and “doing it our own way”.

Lord Jesus told us in Luke 12:29-31, “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” God already knows what we’re going through and what we need to keep going. What we need to do is learn to have patience and faith that God will give us what we need (again, not necessarily what we want) in his own time.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that you know about my situation even before I pray to you about it and that you know everything I need, and that you have promised so long as I seek you that I will receive what I need in your time. Please help me to trust this when I seek to start doubting your Word and promises. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”