MASK

It is always shocking when a Christian’s mask is removed, a hidden nature revealed. A wolf removes it’s sheepish disguise.  Or someone someone seems to suddenly turn their back on everything they proclaimed to believe and make choices completely against God.  When secrets they have worked so hard to keep crammed in a dark corner of their life (instead of confessing and repenting) come tumbling into the light. We can only imagine this is like the pharisees Jesus references (Matthew 15:8).  Or maybe somewhere along the way choices were made out of rebellion, like Saul in 1 Samuel 15. The possibilities and verses are endless… But we can’t forget that proverbs 21:2,1 and kings 8:39 (among others) remind us that only God knows the hearts of man. And any effort we make to figure it out is fruitless. 

The suddenness, or drastic change can be jarring to fellow believers who didn’t know the mask was a lie.  To those who discerned the true nature, it is still unsettling. Disbelief and confusion spread like wildfire. 

Everything in the now unmasked Christian’s life is called into question by everyone they know.  If they served in ministry, then the ministry suffers, because no one can believe anything that was done “in Jesus’s name” (by this person) anymore.  Those effected by this person’s “lost” witness then doubt what was revealed to them or confirmed in them, because the enemy whispers in their ear, that it was all a lie.  

But the truth is God can use anyone, at any time in their life. And any of us can slip a mask on over the smallest things.  Those small thing grow, like a cancer. Allowing them to grow leads to death.  Death of joy, death of relationships, death of the fruit of the spirit, death of ministries, etc. 

 But EVEN WHEN this happens, He can use us.  For HIS glory. But that doesn’t mean He will save us from the consequences of our choices, He will walk through them with us.  The question we all have to answer is this… Do we want to be a Judas or a John?  A Jezebel or a Mary?  Delilah or Ruth?  The choice is ours.  There is always a purpose and a plan.  Somebody had to betray Jesus in order for God’s plan to be fulfilled.  God can use any of the choices we make, 

A person’s story doesn’t end just because they walk away from the one who’s writing it.   

Accepted

The day we accepted Christ into our lives is the day we received God’s unconditional love and acceptance. Notice I said it is the day we received His love and acceptance, not the day He began to love and accept us. He pursues us. He wants us. His desire is for us to know Him! 
Unfortunately, we don’t realize the depth of His love, and we don’t realize what it means to us.

We were created for Him, and Him alone. His approval and acceptance is the ONLY thing we need. All too often though, we look to others for that approval and acceptance. Often, we try to earn people’s love, approval and acceptance. And of course we fall short because we are imperfect people trying to please imperfect people. So we get hurt and allow that rejection to grow into bitterness. We walk around defeated feeling unwanted.
If we could ever truly understand this, it would change everything about us! We were created for His love and acceptance! He approves us! That is it! That means NO ONE ELSE has the power to reject us as human beings. We are loved and desired by our creator.  He saw enough worth in us to form us in our mother’s womb.  To give us the gift of grace.  And if that weren’t enough, He blesses us daily! People can love you, hate you, dislike you- it doesn’t matter! You are accepted and approved of by the one true God, NO ONE can change that! The one who made you to be loved, loves you. Stop looking to everyone else to fulfill that need inside of you, He is the only one who can. And before you think this doesn’t apply to you…. People who know they are loved, have nothing to prove and nothing to lose. There is no fight in them because they know the one who fights for them. Is that you?

Galatians 1:10
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Not That Kind Of Salt

But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt. ~ Genesis 19:26

Matthew 5:13 says “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall it’s saltiness be restored? It is no longer to be good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

Salt domes, or evaporites basically form when a body of salt water is not being fed with enough fresh water.  As the water evaporates, salt is left behind and the remaining water becomes super saturated with salt. Carbonates (carbonic acid salt) begin to form, then gypsum (soft mineral) then halite (rock salt).  As this process happens, the crystals form together because they are attracted to each other.  After a while, you have a hard rock formation.  While I was thinking about this process, God told me that is how our hearts work, too.  When we take our focus off of Christ and place it on our selves or our past, we go from being Christ centered, to self centered. When we are self centered, we tend to study less, we don’t really pay attention to the message that we hear because we become complacent in our walk. We would rather feel good, than feel conviction, because we lack joy.  We don’t pray like we should. We are more easily offended and less willing to forgive.  We eventually stop extending grace to others.  Little things that hurt us grow into big things. We become discouraged, then angry. We completely cut ourselves off from people that hurt us (or might hurt us) and from God. Our soured, acidic hearts now have a soft outer shell, a wall-  It’s soft, but it is still a wall. The longer we look back at the source of our pain, our past, the less we drink from the fountain that never runs dry, the harder our hearts become. Eventually, without living water, we become frozen in our walk, frozen in time, and frozen in our growth. Like Lot’s wife we become hardened pillars of salt. 

On the flip side of that, table salt, a.k.a. sodium chloride (NaCl) has a good, strong bond. Just like our heart does with the Holy Spirt at the joy of our salvation.  For salt, the only way to break that bond is to dilute it with water to the point of dissolution and allow contaminates to be mixed in destroying the good bond between Sodium and chloride.  Kind of like NOT holding fast to the truth of the gospel dissolves the bond that our hearts have with the Holy Spirit.  When we allow our bond to weaken, we allow contaminates (sin) to be mixed into our lives. We allow distance and disconnect to form between us and our Heavenly Father.  And we lose our saltiness.  

We must always guard our hearts (Proberbs 4:23).  Be aware of where we are spiritually and why.  God does not condemn us, He forgives us.  Guilt and shame are tools that the enemy uses to try to separate us from the love of God.  Don’t allow the crystals to be formed on your heart or the bond to be weakened with our Father.  Know his word, and be vigilant against diluting the truth.

DIGNIFIED. WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Ashes and sackcloth represent mourning, repentance and a prayer for deliverance.  They were and outward expression of an inner condition.   (Some examples are found in Ezekiel 27: 30-32, Job 42:6, Daniel 9:3, Esther 4:1 and 4:3, and Jeremiah 6:26.)
So, when did we become so dignified and controlled that we can't even allow the expressions on our faces to be an outward sign of our inner condition?  When did being strong become more important than being humble, obedient, trusting or in love with our Lord and Savor? It is a lie from Satan that Christians are strong, and we have swallowed it hook, line and sinker! We are weak, He is strong!  When did we forget love is not what you say, it is what you do? As a result we say we love Him with our lips but keep our hearts to ourselves.  (Mark 7:6)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death. —Elizabeth Barrett Browning

What passion and devotion we have for a lover or a friend.  We will do just about anything to please ourselves and/or our new love interest.  But what about God?  Where is our passion for Him?  What are we willing to do to show our love for Him?  What about our need for Him? 

We know how much Jesus loved us.  He loved us to the point of death.  We can count the ways He loved, and continues to love us. Can we do the same with our love for Him?  How do we love Him, can we count the ways? 

The truth is, without great passion there will not be great change.  Where has our passion gone?  We say "we are human, only Jesus was perfect" to cover our shortcomings all the time.  And that's true.  But in the words of Tina Turner,  "what's that got to do with love" and our willingness and desire to show it to our Lord? 

HOW CLEAN IS YOUR CUP?

 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” – John 8:31-32

The word abide means to accept or bear. To stay or live. To remain or continue. It’s synonyms are; tarry, live, persevere, endure.

In Matthew 23:27, Jesus calls the Pharisees white washed tombs. He said they are beautiful on the outside but the insides are full of the bones of the dead and filth. In Luke 11:39, he tells them they are careful to clean the outside of the cup and dish but the inside is filthy.
So the question is… Are you living your life as a Pharisees or a disciple? Do you praise God with your mouth and serve hell with your thoughts and your body? People always say “Our bodies are our temple”, but the truth is, our bodies are HIS temple. (1 corinthians 6:19).
We have such a watered down view of what it means to be a christian today. Those who truly live in persecution know, but we don’t face true persecution in the United States.  Yet we still walk around defeated and offended. We say we know it’s not about us, it is all about Him, but do we live that way? Are the decisions we make and the actions we take based on what makes us happy, or are they based on eternity? Do we really get that someone is always watching, and the wrong decisions on our part in the name of Jesus could cost them their eternity? Even the small things we think don’t matter? Does our world revolve around Jesus, or do we think he revolves around us? Do we take the example of Him washing the disciples feet in humbleness and meekness, see it as weakness, and mistake Him as our footstool?
He is the spotless lamb of God. Willingly, meekly and obediently led to slaughter for the salvation of our souls. Our propitiation, once and for all.  (John 1:29) But make no mistake, He is coming back.  He will be riding a white horse, the Lion of Judah with eyes like blazing fire, and a sword for a tongue in a robe dipped in blood. (Rev. 5:5 and 19: 11-21). Does the thought of the rider on the white horse scare you or excite you? Where is your heart, really? Have you made an idol of yourself and your happiness? Who or what comes between you and God? Who are you keeping from God? You can only hide the stench of a tomb for so long. This is personal. No one will know the depths of your heart except the one who created it, and you. We can fool man. We can wear the beautiful mask, the “Christian” mask, we can run when the mask begins to slip. But we can’t fool God