New Glasses

It had been seven years since my last visit to the eye doctor yet my glasses were keeping it together, if you can call having to check the tiny screws weekly and constantly squeezing the frames around the lens “keeping it together.”  I knew I needed to buy new glasses not only because a visit was long overdue, and not only because an optometrist’s machine revealed that my prescription was no longer sufficient for my eyes, but because while singing in a concert last winter, an inebriated man from the audience came up onto the stage and walked on those glasses.  Yes, right while we were singing “Oh Happy Day.”  Everyone saw him do it and followed my eyes and expression to the floor where my twisted glasses lay.

I was not ready to buy glasses for several reasons, but I knew I would have to change that song and dance sooner than later.  Why were my glasses on the floor anyway?  They were beside my setlist and towel minding their own business as usual, beside the microphone stand.  It was the drunk man who was out of place where he should not have been.  Anyhoooo, my singers and I had a wonderful evening together on and off the stage that night and we refused to allow this incident to spoil our evening.  I reshaped my glasses as well as I could and replaced the lens, tightening the screws again so I could “get back to normal.”  But after that night, I never saw the world the same way again. :-)

Finally, nine months later I visited an ophthalmologist who said I have the head and face of a gospel singer.  Then he asked me “what do you do?”  I said “I am a gospel singer, etc.” :-)  When he tested my glasses and eyes he said, in French “they are finished” LOL!  Who knew? :-)  Afterwards I crossed the street to the optometrist to choose some new glasses.  Buy one get one free!!  I was in heaven, so I bought two pair and got two more free.  I was determined not to be left in a situation where I could not see well because of a freak mishap.

The doctor told me what I already knew:  I need glasses to see far away, not for up close or for reading.  And I notice that when I bring anything too close to my face I cannot “see it” – it goes out of focus.  I recall having to learn the different conditions of the eyes in school, but I cannot recall the name of this second phenomenon.  The first one of course is called “nearsightedness.”  I need help seeing “far away” with clarity.  Hmmm.

 This new encounter with my eyes at this time in my life led to another discovery about myself.  Maybe you might see also what I m saying – the words that are coming out of my mouth. :-)  What we do in our environment and world is a manifestation of what we are doing inside – our inner world.  Grant it, I do know that we don’t always do everything we think, imagine, desire, or fantasize about doing, yet because the potential to “do” is great once it becomes a thought, this makes our minds the most powerful places on the planet apart from God Himself.

What was my discovery?  My physical eyes are nearsighted and reflect the same problem I have with my spiritual eyes.  I have no problem seeing, and thus believing for those things which are not too far away, in the future – say tomorrow or even a couple of months away.  I have no problem believing for things which have a date and time for that places a “cap” or ceiling upon the expected event.  However, I need “glasses” for my spiritual eyes, just like for my physical eyes in order to “see” (believe) for those things in life which have no set date or time.  They are open-ended, meaning we have no idea when they will happen, and as time continues to pass with no guardrails or other guides, no stop lights, etc. like a neverending ribbon of road through the desert (and you can no longer see where you started, so you cannot return to that place, no turning back), no modern truck stops in sight and no vacant houses for you to move into, you begin to wonder if those things will ever happen at all.  There seems to be no “accountability” for and to those events with an open-ended time table.

So I struggle to believe for God’s promises when year after year, and now even a couple of decades pass with no evidence appearing, no extra terrestrial or celestial visitations, no close encounters of the third to fifth power happening out in the middle of my desert experiences.  This is not to give the impression that absolutement rien est passé.  Pas du tout, parce que everyday something is happening, whether I can see it or not.  I do know that I myself am changing.

This brings me to another situation I’d like to delicately share.  In the context of “I am changing” it is all happening because of Jesus Christ, the Son of God living in and living through me.  He’s no longer a baby in a manger, even though every year when we celebrate His birth we tend to return to the manger to do so.  I’m not saying this is a bad thing, for to remember one’s beginnings can result in present revelations for life transformations.  However, many people knowingly and unknowingly put Jesus (and themselves) back into that manger and swaddling cloths every year, and some even live as though He is the baby needing them to take care of Him.  Do you pull out pictures of yourself in your baby crib every year that you celebrate your birthday?  Do you revisit the hospital where you were born and set up candles and a vigil?  :-)

But back to my “seeing” situation.  Because of Jesus’ great love for and towards me – I am changing from the inside out.  Jesus is doing in me phenomenal things I did not know I needed to be done.  For me this is resulting in a deeper love for Him which I can only describe with the words I have to express.  Having done this in mixed company I have caused others to experience discomfort because their experience with Jesus Christ has not reached that depth.  It’s like taking someone deep-sea diving when they’ve never learned to swim in four feet of water.  They are offended (afraid).  When I learned that others were offended at how I express the depth of my love for Jesus, that they brought it down to a flesh and blood carnal place where it was never conceived, I was hurt.  At first.  :-)  But then I realized that I am in good company for there was also another woman who semi-publicly/privately expressed her gratitude upon Jesus who also was misunderstood and judged by religious folk.  And of her, Jesus said that she would be remembered on this earth forever.  He was not ashamed to connect and couple Himself, His life, His reputation and name with this low-life trailer trash of a woman.  He graciously accepted, received, embraced and adored her only gift of love – lavish affection and the “undressing” of herself and life upon Him, because He knew that she knew from what depths of depravity He had saved, delivered, healed and restored her.

I too know and understand the depth Jesus went to save, deliver, heal and restore me, but only to the depth of my experience, which in itself is great.  I cannot possibly know by experience the depth of death, hell and the grave Jesus went down into to save just one person – ME.  Let alone the darkness of separation from the Father He experienced on the cross to save all of humanity for all time - spirit, soul and body.  But when I meditate upon Him and His greatness and wonderful love, I am reduced to blubber :-) and my desire to love Him back goes deep, down beyond myself to the point where I desire to surrender my entire self to Him.

See, to and for me this is a miracle because I have lived all of my life trying to please God according to what I knew.  And because I’ve lived all of my life in the church I believed that I had given all of myself to the Lord, the church and ministry have guided my life’s choices, therefore I did not believe or realize that I had much to be saved, healed, and delivered from.  I thought I was “okay” and ready to experience all of my dreams and desires, and all God has for me.  It has taken the past 11 years, little by little, line upon line for God to peel me like an onion to reveal what was well hidden within this person called “me”, even from myself.  It is thus very true that we do not know ourselves as we are known by the Lord.

At the beginning of this 11 year voyage the Lord showed me in a vision His pursuit of me.  He revealed to me what He would do from “on the outside” (what turned out to also be an 'inside job', good grief!) – the before and after, but I had no idea “how” it would happen, neither how long it would take.  I had no idea what I would experience internally or externally as Jesus pursued me to make me His own.  The tears and fears, the emotional highs and lows, the depression of being emptied out of everything I am and knew myself to be, and of everything I had in this life . . .  Even if I could tell you all, unless and until you experience it for yourself you could not appreciate the depth of God’s love for and towards ME.  Therefore, it is possible that you too would be offended by my descriptions and expressions of deep love for Jesus.

I learned through my recent eye doctor’s visit and acquisition of new glasses (les lunettes en Francais) that there was nothing wrong with the appearance(s) of people and things around me.  Red was red and green was green.  The problem with seeing was coming from within me, my eyes – the way they were processing what was falling onto the retinas, corneas, and other eye parts and how my brain was processing them.  So the world around me didn’t need glasses, but I did.  As I shared my new-found deep love for Jesus Christ to other close friends they said to me “there is nothing wrong with how you are expressing YOUR love relationship and experience with God, for it is yours.  When others 'hear' your descriptions they process them according to the definitions/understanding of those words already registered in their lives and experiences.  And because their experiences do not have the same depth and dimension as yours they are offended by yours, because they cannot relate to you.  It doesn’t make theirs wrong either, but it limits your [talking about me/mine] ability to share the depth of your love for Jesus, and/or it limits how much you can share, and with whom you can share it.  It also exposes them to the discomfort that they themselves have not experienced Jesus at that depth for it’s probable that they suffer under the spirits of religion, traditions, and legalism, just like the Pharisees, Sadducees and the disciples who witnessed the woman washing Jesus’ feet with her perfume, hair and tears.” (Whew, what a long sentence that was.)

So I must be more careful in front of whom I undress myself upon the Lord, for I’m sure to offend at least one person who “thinks” they’re in love with Jesus too.  What about you?  How do you see those around you who are different from you physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, educationally, financially, etc.?  When you hear others describe their life experiences with the language they speak, know, and understand do you judge and criticize them?  Do you regard them through your own experiences or lack of?  Or do you admire them for their courage to endure; their courage to bare their souls and lives to critical people like . . . you?

It takes courage to take down your “hair” in public, to reveal your deepest thoughts and feelings to others.  It also takes humility and trust.  So the next time you find yourself as one who is hearing the intimate details of someone’s life, remember that they are trusting you, humbling themselves at your feet.  It is not a moment to criticize, judge or become offended, but instead it is an opportunity to become inspired, energized, encouraged to endure.  And when it comes to loving Jesus the Christ, it is a moment for introspection – “Do I really love Jesus that deeply?  Have I truly given Him ALL of me with no clothes on?”  Hmmmm.  Now, what did your eyes just see?

Peace.

Lover, Lord and King

Jesus is my Lover, the Lover of My soul.  The One Who loves Me best and loves me most.  He is the standard of a lover for Me.

Jesus is my Lord – the Governor of My life and soul.  He puts everything in order like an agent, manager, accountant, secretary – He pays attention to the details of My everyday life – internally and externally.

Jesus is my King – the One Who rules over Me.  “His banner over me is love” and my enemies see this banner and know under Whose regime I live.  Not only am I subjected (a subject) and submitted (a servant) to and unto Him, I am protected by Him and His soldiers – the prayers of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and the ministering spirits called “angels”.

His Word and His Spirit also stand guard over Me, and from within me, surrounding Me as with a shield.  I am married to this King and I desire to more and more learn what it is like to live under His Lordship, and to be engulfed by Him as My Lover.

I am Hephzibah.  (Isaiah 62:4-6)

Peace.

Of Dirty Feet and Hair

I’m gonna just dive right in here straight, no chaser, shaken not stirred.  Mary, Lazarus’ sister washed Jesus’ dirty feet with her hair (her glory, her crown) (Revelation 2:10, 3:11, 9:7) (I Corinthians 11:15) in chapter 12 of John’s gospel before Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in chapter 13.  Hmmm.  A woman again steps out first and lays it all on the line for a man – her body, her tears, her reputation, her glory.  Under a man’s dirty feet.  She wore no wigs, or extensions.  It was all her hair.  She wasn’t fake, but she was the real deal.

Dirty feet, crusted with donkey and camel manure, mixed with dirt and dust from how many days?  Okay, how many hours?  Does it really matter?  Dooky is dooky.  Dirt is dirt.  And a woman’s hair is on her head around her face and shoulders.  Mary took the daily stench of walking and being strangers off of Jesus and bore it upon herself, wiping his feet clean with her tears and perfume.  Do you realize how much water she needed to clean His feet?  She did some heavy duty weeping, with her face on His feet.  Have we ever wept like that where a bowl of tears could be collected from our eyes because of . . . love?

I don’t just lay it all down at your feet Jesus – my glory that is:  my (hmm, are they really mine since they all came from Him in the first place?) talents, gifts, anointing, charisma, fortunes, fame, education, beauty, shapely and muscular body, etc.  Those “beautiful” things that I wear on the “top” of my head; Those things that define my personality; Those things which identify me to the world and create around me a fan base who follow . . . me?  Oh Jesus I lay them all down at your feet, but not only that, but I wash your feet with all of my accomplishments, my tears of pain and gratitude for what you’ve done in, for and to me, and the perfume of my life, my praise and worship and adoration because of Who YOU are.

Then Jesus turned around and washed the dirty feet of His disciples, a bunch of judgmental, proud, wealthy, arrogant, selfish, critical, muscular, fishy smelling, educated doctors and lawyers and tax collectors, always sleeping when they should be praying, athletic and competitive writers over flowing with testosterone cowards, Benedict Arnolds, snitches, thieves, backbiters, often wanting to use God’s fire from heaven to burn up people, places and things, MEN.  There were no women in that room in John’s gospel account, and if there were, he on purpose did not bring attention to them.  No, it was a man’s world where Jesus let down His hair before them.  Jesus became vulnerable before them, to and with them.  He took that part of themselves that they hated (and loved) in and about themselves and others, and washed it.  He took that part of themselves that they used to judge and reject others, and themselves, and washed them.  He touched them – man to man with no sexual connotations, no gender identity issues, no, not at all.  Brother to brother, Father to son.  

Jesus ministered to the hurting little boys hidden away inside each of them.  He reached out and touched them where they had been raped, molested, abused, accused and misused, but which had been covered up by their family names, education and professions, their zoot suits and Stacey Addams sandals, their Louis Vuitton man-bags, and Cartier earrings.  Oh what they had so successfully hidden from others with their affluence, attitudes and arrogance, Jesus respected them enough to wait to uncover behind closed doors, by washing their feet.

To touch someone’s feet is a very intimate act but because most of us do not care very well for our own feet, and because most feet are not beautiful and carry a very bad odor, we reject the feet – one of the most sensual parts of the body.  But every single organ in the body can be located in the feet by a trained masseuse, and they can identity internal problems through the feet as well.  Could this also be what Jesus was doing by washing their feet?  Ministering to their internal disorders by touching their feet?  See, we don’t know exactly how many hours He was with them in that room, but we do know that He washed 12, not one or two, but 12 pairs of stinking and dirty MEN’s feet – not women and children.  But cantankerous “You shall not wash my feet” know-it-all men. J

Imagine a women’s hair, nail and foot salon with the fans blowing, chemical fumes, hair hanging and flying around everywhere, children in strollers crying and hungry and chatter chatter chatter, all day long.  You just got back from one didn’t you?  Okay now imagine a men’s barbershop – arguing, politics, religion, young and old, testerone flying, competition, television, news, sports, laughter, profanity, gays and straights, just LOUD.  Well, Jesus had twelve clients that evening and He washed not only their physical feet, but their souls with His love.  This took some time.

Then He told them to do the same for each other.  Hmmm.  When was the last time you washed and massaged someone else’s feet?  Literally?  After much walking, carrying heavy bags and luggage, singing and dancing and preaching on stage, the feet take a licking and have to keep on kicking.  When was the last time you or I reached out in purity and innocence - the Spirit of Jesus’ love (WWJD) and washed and massaged a sister or a brother’s tired feet?  When was the last time someone did this for you?  For me?  Physically?  Spiritually?

Now I don’t expect anyone to wash the feet of others with their hair and not even with the removable kind, but a nice gentle foot soak and massage can do wonders for the soul and body.  Oh, and then to pray for them at the same time.  What a holy moment!  Laying our glory at each other’s feet.  If those of us who say we are disciples of Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, would do this to and for each other, egos would die, humility would be birthed and increase in us at such a powerful rate, and so many of us would experience inner healing from our hidden and secret pains.  If the Bible had not told us her name was Mary, I would ask “was her name Rapunzel?”  J

Peace.

More Fabric Softener Please! :-)

I remember back in the late 70s when fabric softener sheets made their debut in our house.  My favorite brand became “Cling Free” right away because they were not made of perfumed paper but of spongy sheets. J  And of course they smelled oh so good.  I was hooked.  But as time passed, and not too much time I might add, the amount of product in the sheets decreased and also the fragrance did not last in your clothing as when the sheets first hit the market.  Yet the price did not reflect the decrease of product in the sheets.  Pas du tout.  I felt like I was being cheated so I switched to liquid fabric softeners, and I fell in love again.  Ah, love affairs.  LOL!! 

Well you know what happened there too because perhaps it has happened to you.  You find a fabric softener you like for the right price and all is well for a while.  Then new names pop up with new fragrances and you get the roving eye and nose, and gradually your favorite is not the only one you love. J  You now have multiple lovers in multiple colors, sizes, and shapes.  So you make your rounds, sometimes buying more than one at a time because there are just too many to settle for just one at a time.  Ahem.  Then the prices rise and the sizes shrink, and now it’s more economical to buy refill tubes.

So, with these tubes you are instructed as to how much water to mix with the concentrated liquid, which means you now control the strength of the product.  Hmmm.  Not a bad idea eh?  More softener please.  Maybe some people will take this to mean if they add more water than instructed they can make the liquid last longer, and you would be right.  But would the results be as satisfying?  Watered-down fabric softener makes for . . . You get the feeling don’t you?

On the other hand maybe some people would use less water in the mix thinking this will make the clothing softer.  This too may be correct, but of course the product will not last as long as it is supposed to and you will be refilling more often than you had planned.  Not really sure if it’s created to work best that way, but hey, not sure it would hurt either.  It’s your call bien sur. 

Well, I’m of the old school that if you’re going to read the instructions at all, you might as well follow them to the letter.  So I usually mix the right amount of water with the concentrate.  But I noticed that without the usage of a clothes dryer, air drying ones clothing, even when using fabric softener in the right amount does not always result in soft clothes.  This is absolutely no fun.  And en plus, where is the fragrance that caught my nose and desire causing me to two-time my previous fabric softener choice?  So I decided to add an extra cap or two of fabric softener, but then I forgot about it. 

While folding the towels I noticed that they were softer and I wondered how is this possible?  Then I had a duh-aha-voila-eureka moment.  I had added more fabric softener.  Hmmm.  And the fragrance was there too, which made my normal chore of folding clothes fun again.  Fabric softener truly can make washing, drying and folding clothes a fun passing of time.  It doesn’t have to be a boring chore, or a chore at all.  But something else happened while I was savoring the feeling and fragrance of clean clothing.  I heard Holy Spirit say “This is what YOU need, more softener in your soul.  It will change your character.”  Wow!!  Ouch too.  LOL!!  Talk about a eureka moment.

As I moved in closer to receive this great revelation from Holy Spirit, He said to me that time with Jesus, day in and day out is like adding fabric softener to the fabric of our characters.  The texture of me (and you) becomes changed and easier to “wear”, like lamb’s skin. J  You get the picture don’t you?  Romans 12:2 states,  “. . . be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” [Emphasis mine.]  Can you say “Transformer?”

I Corinthians 13:4-8 describes for us the many facets of God’s nature and personality – Love.  God IS Love, and Love is patient (God is patient), Love is kind (God is kind), Love is . . . etc.  Also Galatians 5:22-23 gives flavor to our Lord (“oh taste and see that the Lord is good”)[Psalm 34:8] calling His character traits “The Fruit of the Spirit”.  We know that we become like the ones we spend the most time with, whether we socialize with them in person, through books, through the internet and television, etc.  We take on the mannerisms of others and they take on our mannerisms too. 

You notice how two strangers can meet, spend some time together, fall in love and then marry.  Then after a few years they begin to look like each other, talk like one another, maybe even walk with the same gait especially if they have taken many long walks together.  They may even finish one another’s sentences or say the same things at the same time because they are thinking alike.  They can feel when the other one is upset or happy even when they’re not in the same room or city; Because their hearts have become one.  The textures of their personalities have become intertwined changing their original single way of being, creating a whole new tapestry, but yet somehow still maintaining their own uniqueness.  Yes, this is spiritual for sure.  Heart to heart, mind to mind, soul to soul. . .  And this is what God desires to have and be with us.  One.

I noticed that the more time I spend not just reading God’s Word but letting His Word read me, I see me like I’ve never seen me before. J  I begin to see me like God sees me, the good, the bad and the ugly.  The good He uses to encourage me that I am not a bad person and that He loves and accepts me just as I am, so when I see the bad I don’t become depressed.  And whoa when the ugly rears its ugly head that I don’t give up, throw in the towel and call it quits.  The Lord is not about just identifying what’s wrong with us, but He’s about revealing to us Himself in us, who and what we are to become in and through, and by and for His Son Jesus the Christ, the Ultimate Soul Fabric Softener.  See, when we are impatient and unkind to ourselves, we have really rough personalities.  We can smile all the time and say nice things in a sweet voice, but there is always an edge to our disposition which is cutting and biting, and sensitive people can sense it (and see the bite marks in our personality) and they may even move away from us in advance, because they don’t know when we might strike. 

When we are impatient and unkind to ourselves it means we lack . . . Love, Which is patient, Who is kind. . .  I know that’s kind of tight, but it’s right.  When we don’t exercise the Fruit of the Spirit towards our own selves (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, temperance) then we have not been very nice to ourselves, which means we will not know how to be nice to others.  We are “softless”.  J  Just rough not only around the edges, but throughout our entire personalities.  We can’t give to others what we don’t have. We cannot take others where we’ve not been.  We cannot teach others what we have not learned.  And we cannot give until we have received. 

God desires for His love to be a reality in our lives, not just an abstract principle we read on a bumper sticker or lapel pin, and not just something we say to people when we don’t know what to say, “God loves you.”  He wants us to know exactly what it means (feels, sounds, tastes, smells like) in our everyday reality and interactions first with ourselves, then with our families, friends, coworkers and the world beyond our world.  But this can only happen as we continually make time for Him as our priority 24-7.  He cannot be secondary and His Word cannot be an option. 

To be honest with you, I did not know how mean to oneself one really is when he or she is impatient.  Maybe we react impatiently towards others on a daily basis, but that means we’ve first been impatient with ourselves.  Life is so much more calm and peaceful now that I am exercising patience with myself (and eating the other Fruit too).  No more internal stress, less injuries, and the roses smell oh so nice. J  I didn’t have to water down the fabric softener to make it last longer because there’s a never ending supply from where that comes.  Jesus never runs out.  Neither did I have to use less water to get the softness I desire.  I can follow the instructions to the letter and still get what I need and want.  (And no static cling!!)  All I have to do is add more fabric softener, and enjoy the feeling being soft brings.  You can never add too much of the Ultimate Fabric Softener, Jesus Christ.  So go ahead, pour Him in and see what happens.  I’m sure you will love the results.

Peace.

Don't Take It Personally Part II

After meditating for a minute I began to see another side and angle to not taking “things” personally:  God versus sin.  What do I mean?  Well, God is holy.  Period.  Sin is not holy.  Hmmmm.  They are not friends in any way, never have been and never will be.  You will never catch God playing kickball or volleyball with sin on anyone’s playground or back yard.  So wherever “sin” is, God’s holiness is in opposition to it.  Don’t take it personally.  It’s a principle like gravity.  Gravity neither loves nor hates.  It just is. J  But God loves and is in love.  Keep reading, please.

Maybe it has taken me a minute to clearly understand this, but I’ve learned that this means no matter who we are or where we are on this planet, if we “wear” sin like a garment or a brooch or a banner in our heart, soul, body, life, decisions, life-style etc. it attracts God’s anger and judgment like a homing device.  Period.  Don’t take it personally, just get rid of the sin.  Sin marks us and keeps us on the radar – bleep, blip, bleep, blip.  Hmmmm.  So because God loves His creation, that would be you and me, for what reason would He create something He hates?  (He didn’t.  Read Genesis 1, and John 3:16) Even the satan was not always the way he is now.  He had a proper name which was lovely in itself – Lucifer.  But because of the pride he had within him he fell in love with himself and desired to overthrow God, thus his lovely name fell with him and became stereotyped as evil, representing his nature. (Ezekiel 28:13-19) Too bad we can’t separate the stigma of his name from what he is.  Moving on . . .

Then humans, God’s love creatures, appeared on the radar of Lucifer for destruction.  How would he do it?  He would infect them and afflict them with the same malady he had and has, which resulted in his being thrown down from his place in God’s presence:  Pride.  All sin stems from pride.  Pride is not an emotion, but its presence is and can be revealed (and concealed) through, and by our emotions.  Once we know what pride is, then we will know what it is not, and we will be able to recognize it when we “see” it.

Pride in a nutshell is the belief that “I can do all things through ME, MYSelf, and I”.  My gifts, talents, strengths, education, knowledge, wisdom, beauty, physique, street smarts, etc. can and will get me “there” (wherever “there” is) without the need of any outside help – except to do the foot work of my “commands”.   (My wish is your every command.  LOL!!) But this is no laughing matter.  Pride can be displayed through arrogance and haughtiness, but it can also be hidden through a meek and quiet disposition.  One can be full of pride, missing God’s will and desires while having a submissive, “I can get along with everybody” persona.  How?  Because pride doesn’t need our emotions and emotional expressions to exist within us.  It just needs us to believe we can do all things in and of and by ourselves, not needing God’s permission, neither needing to seek His heart or will first, not needing to wait for God’s provision and direction, and certainly not needing to surrender our choices and decisions to Someone else’s omniscience i.e. God’s.   You get the picture.

When we are diseased with pride (in any area of our character and lives) the only voice we can hear is our own, and because we will always tell ourselves what we want to hear, we will believe we’re hearing the voice of God.  “I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM!  WE ALL SCREAM FOR I SCREAM!  (I know, the last one is supposed to say “Ice Cream”.  Remember, it’s my blog.  J  But you hear the point right?)

The Bible says that “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)  For years I thought humility meant saying “yes” to everyone with a nice voice and a smile to keep everybody happy.  But then I could not understand why if everyone around me was happy, why wasn’t God blessing me with His promises?  Because God wasn’t happy, and He wasn’t happy because He was not being considered first in the equation, i.e. in all of my life’s choices and decisions.  “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God (a relationship with God through Jesus the Christ) and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) And to be honest with you, I am glad to have finally learned that humility has nothing to do with making others happy, because with or without a humble personality, no one can make and keep everybody happy.  Not even God tries to keep everyone happy, so who did I think I was to try to accomplish such an impossibility with and in my own limited capacity, and also since God did not give me that never ending homework assignment?  God is not obligated to accept and be happy with the things we decide to do on our own apart from Him and His first-rate counsel and direction.

So what does humility look like?  Humility means believing, knowing, and living as ones reality on a daily basis, the truth that I can’t do anything on my own.  I cannot breathe, speak, see, hear, taste, or touch without God.  I cannot swallow, blink, walk, talk, clap, dance, or chew gum (without chewing my tongue into pieces) without the Spirit of God flowing and living in my spirit keeping me alive.  Knowing all of this, how much more should I (we) realize that I cannot and should not try to make important (or even seemingly insignificant) life’s decisions without first seeking God, and then waiting to hear what He will say to me?  Yet we do it all the time, bypassing the “Mr. Know It All of the Universe” Who knows the end from the beginning.   And we wonder why our plans don’t pan out?  Or maybe they begin with a promise but end horribly.

Being humble doesn’t mean we will get all the answers (or any answers) in advance, neither does it mean that we will never run into trouble.  However, a life of pride doesn’t afford us these benefits either.  On the contrary – being humble and being proud can and will lead us into challenges and problems, for Job said “man is born for trouble.”  J  But the difference is:  Who is leading your life, and thus helping you (or not, depending on the WHO) to decide how and how well you will deal with the good, the bad, and the uglies of life.  Knowing that the One who knows all things in advance is leading our lives can give us peace in the midst of the storm, air conditioning in the fiery furnace, vegetarian lions (vegans) in a lion’s den.

Jesus Christ died on the cross personally because God the Father loves all of us personally, therefore He does take our sin personally.  However, He judges all sin impersonally because all sin is sin.  Only God can do that.  Yet He takes into consideration each person’s level of knowledge of right and wrong, maturity and ability to know Him when He judges our sins, for it is not His desire to destroy us, but to be reunited and reconciled with us in a love relationship.  Jesus calls that having “eternal life” – yes it’s for the “here and now” not just the “there and then”.  God carries us closely inside His heart NOW because He wants us to spend our THEN with Him.  So the next time you hear people complaining about what appears or seems to be the wrath and judgment of God, if you can get a word in edgewise, just tell them “don’t take it personally”; unless of course they need to.

Peace.