Mind Control

Wow.  It is hard to believe we’re at the end of 2 months of devos already!  At this writing, I don’t have new DevoZines in the mail yet so tomorrow’s post may be a bit delayed.  In any case, I hope that those of you who stop by or perhaps the few of you who read regularly will stick around.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions, send a comment this way!

Oct 31 – Whatever is…

Oh, the places I could go with today’s devotion.  The whole thing is simply 2 verses, and I’m just going to look at one – Philippians 2:8 – but it is power-packed.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

This verse brings my mom to mind.  She has been reminding me about this verse for a long, long time and thinking about it now, I think she lives out this verse better than anyone I know.  Nothing in her life will distract her thoughts from matters eternal; she is fixated solely, even frustratingly, on the true, noble, right, and pure things of this world and she constantly reminds me to do the same.

On a day like Halloween, it’s easy to see where maybe we have lost this as a value in our culture.  I won’t wax too cynical here – but I do invite you to consider where your thought life stands.  What things do you consider to be lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy?  What do you consider to be true, noble, right, pure?  Do you spend your time on those things or do you get bogged down in the opposite kinds of thoughts?  If you’re anything like me, getting dragged down into those other thoughts is way too easy, certainly easier than trying to think about honest and noble and pure things all the time.  Give it a try for awhile – a week, a day, or even just for a couple of hours.  Let me know if you notice any change in the way or act or feel.

Getting Sarcastic With God? Bad Plan.

Oct. 30 – Smarting Off To God

You would think people would be smart enough to know better.  God is powerful enough to make you so He’s powerful enough to “smite” you….But not Cain.  Not only did he kill his brother (REALLY BIG mistake #1), but afterward, he thought he would toss some attitude God’s way (mistake #2).

Here’s the brief exchange:
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied.  “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

That’s it.  But that’s enough.  Yesterday, we talked mainly about sarcasm with friends but when it comes to sarcasm with God or -to bring it into the human realm – sarcasm with people in authority, you’re crossing another line.  People in authority, even the ones you may not agree with or get along with, still deserve to be treated with respect.  That means treating them as a person of worth and recognizing the authority they have been given.  One of the most direct references to this concept is found in Romans 13.  Here’s the key verse:  “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”  And even Jesus submitted himself to and acknowledged the rule of the day, as long as the earthly laws did not conflict with furthering the kingdom of God.  Jesus says to give to Caesar the money that is his and to God the things that are His.  (Matthew 22:21) and He does pay the required temple tax (Matthew 17:27).  Even while His trial was in process, He never direspected the ruler He was standing in front of.

So often, when someone in authority asks us to do something we don’t want to do or asks us a question we don’t want to answer (what happened to Cain), we come back with a smart-aleck remark.  Instead of saying the first thing that comes to mind, getting defensive, and acting like Cain, take a cue from Jesus here.  It’s better to say nothing than to say something that’s going to be disrespectful.  Even telling the person that you don’t want to answer at that moment because you’re too upset or because you’re afraid of what you might say will earn you a lot more respect in the long run.  Consider Psalm 141:3 which says, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”  If this kind of mouthing off is something your struggle with, consider praying that verse for yourself.

What To Do About Sarcasm

Oct 29 – Just Kidding?

Ephesians 4:29 is one of those verses that always gets me.  “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  What?!  Do not let ANY unwholesome talk come out of your mouths?  Or what about a few verses later when it says, “Nor should there be oscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking…”  Holy cow!  If you combine all of those things, that makes speech one very difficult thing to control.

I heard a quote once that said, “In every word of sarcasm, there’s a bit of truth.”  That’s the danger in it.  While we may intend for some of the disrespectful or mean words we say to be taken jokingly, oftentimes, the person we speak to will walk away hurt, not because they think we’re completely serious but because maybe we hit on some slkice of truth that really does hurt them.  For me, sarcasm is a weapon.  I use it when I feel backed into a corner or when I’m upset with someone but don’t want to confront the person about it.  In high school, one of my friends used sarcasm so much that I just didn’t want to be around him.  It was impossible to be in a conversation with him without him making you feel bad about yourself for something you did or just feel stupid for something you said.  That was his way of getting attention and making people laugh.  It worked, but it hurt, and it definitely affected our friendship.

Now I am the first to tell you that I am rather senstive to words.  I was raised to value them highly and to be careful when using them, so I admittedly respond more strongly to them than many people do.  That being said though, words really do have power.  I think we tend to forget that, especially in this age of computers and cell phones where we can so easily hide behind a screen when we talk to people.  As you talk to people this week, whether in person, online, or in a text message, focus on that second part of the first verse from today -  use words that are”helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  It may encourage someone you didn’t even know needed encouraging!

Can You Imagine A Major Change?

Oct 27-28 Lost and Found

In spite of what I talked about yesterday, stories like Bethany’s amaze me.  In my mind, it is one thing to be born with a certain condition and grow up with it but it is quite another to live one way and then retrain your mind and your body to live another way.  I cannot imagine relearning how to surf!  (Okay.  I can’t really imagine learning how to surf anyway, but RElearning???)

I suppose a new life of faith can be like this too though.  I have grown up in the church and never really had one of those “conversion experiences” where I suddenly realized the gift of God’s grace and changed everything in my life.  However, I have friends who have.  (For the record, while some of these experiences may be emotional reactions more than anything, as some people vigorously claim, from observing certain people in my life, I know that some of them are sincere and very real.)  How do you relearn vocabulary – how not to use certain four letter words every few seconds?  How do you rechoose music – not all of it but maybe certain kinds that are especially angry, vulgar, or depressing?  How do you reexamine priorities – spending more time with friends who encourage your faith, less time with the friends who got you in trouble, and scheduling in some time for God?  For some people, it may even mean a job change – from something illegal to something on the right side of the law or from something immoral to something that allows you to serve God.

Whoa!  Changing all of those things would blow my mind.  But people do.  Take a look at John 8:1-11.  This is one of the most stunning acts of grace we see Jesus make.  I believe we have discussed this story before (read it here) but this time, we’re taking a look at the woman’s life more than Jesus’.  The last thing we see Him say to the woman whose life He has just saved is “Go now, and leave your life of sin.”  We don’t know exactly what this woman’s life was like, but I wonder how much of her life changed after that.  Did she break off the relationship with the man she was with?  Did she change some of the people she hung around with?  Did she commit herself to the Jewish faith again – or maybe for the very first time?  We don’t know.  But what if she did?  Or think about Paul.  Acts 9 tells the story of his conversion and that produced an immediate change, so immediate in fact that the Jews in Jerusalem were afraid of him!

Whether you’re Bethany Hamilton and something about your life changes drastically on the outside or if you’re like the woman caught in adultery or like Paul who go through an inward change, know that God carries us through all of it.  

When you pass through the waters, 
I will be with you; 
and when you pass through the rivers, 
they will not sweep over you. 
When you walk through the fire, 
you will not be burned; 
the flames will not set you ablaze.
-Isaiah 43:2

When Struggles Make You Whole

Oct 26 – Made Whole By A Hole

It’s not something I mention just for the heck of it because it really doesn’t matter too much.  If you’ve met me, you probably noticed – or maybe you didn’t.  Whatever the case, I’ll fill you in.    I’ve got a rare skin disorder that I’ve had a lot of surgeries for.  I have quite a few scars on me, primarily on my left hand and arm but elsewhere as well.  My left hand only has four fingers and there’s some unusual looking skin around my fingernails.  Some kids think it’s “gross.”  Some adults think having 22 surgeries is “brave.”  I think it’s neither.  It is simply life the way God arranged for me to have it.

I don’t really know where I stand on this theologically.  Some say that God doesn’t desire for any of His children to endure the pain and struggles of physical or mental imperfection, be that through Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, or through a skin disorder similar to or worse than mine.  But another part of me – the part that has lived through surgeries, skin grafts, insecurity, teasing and the like – says that God knew exactly what He was doing.  I would not be who I am today if not for those experiences and I very much feel like a part of me would have been missing.

What is it that you feel like is missing from your life?  Or on the flip side, is there some struggle you’ve faced that you see the beauty in now that you wouldn’t go back and change?  Take a minute to think about those things today. In John 10:10, Jesus says “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full.”  A good friend of mine and I describe this kind of abundant, joy-filled living as “Life” or “Living.”  In our minds, to Live is far different than to live.  Write down what you think it might mean or what it might feel like to Live.  Let God fill up those parts of you that feel missing or empty and ask Him to be able to recognize how He is using your difficulties to make you whole.

Redemption on Both Sides of the Social Ladder – Share Your Stories!

This poem rings so true for me.  I struggled through those years too, wanting nothing more than to feel accepted.  As I got pushed aside, I dreamed the same things Heather did – of “walking up to them suddenly beautiful and unafraid” – and I still do.  I still feel like I have something to prove to those girls in the “cool group.”  The 13-year-old inside of me still fights to keep my eyes from dropping to the ground when certain people pass by.  The 13-year-old inside of me still craves their acceptance…

But mine is not the first of these stories you have heard.  There are plenty of people who share about their middle or high school years when they were teased, pushed aside, or just wanted to be popular.  They happily share with their audience just how far they have come…

But what about the people on the other side of the fence?  What about the ones who spent those years a little higher up on the perceived social ladder?  I wish I could share a story with you here and tell you what it was like, but I can’t.

Here’s what I do know – There is healing for the hurting, as well as the one who brings the hurt.  There is healing for the broken, as well as the one who does the breaking.  Paul, the author of nearly half of the New Testament, was one of the greatest persecutors of Christians right after Jesus left the earth.  He worked to find the Christians and either jail them or kill them.  And yet God redeemed even his hatred for the gospel and made him one of the founders of the Christian church.

No matter where you are in the social world, I invite you to share your stories.  It can be either where you are or where you have been in the past.  It can be the ways you have been hurt or the ways God has healed you.  Whatever it is, please share with us! 

Admitting You Have a Problem

Oct 24 – Recovering From Addiction

This week’s topics aren’t exactly light and fluffy.  But that’s reality sometimes, right?

When you’re joking around with friends, has someone ever said “The first step is admitting you have a problem”?  I have.  When someone did something funny or weird, that was a fairly common response.  For a long time, I never realized that that statement actually has some very serious meaning for a lot of people.  The first step in a 12-step recovery program really is admitting that you have a problem (the best known 12-step program is Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, to give you an idea of what we’re talking about).

Maybe you think admitting a problem sounds easy, but think about it.  Admitting a problem invites some kind of action; it requires pursuing help, acknowledging that you have a weakness that you can’t do anything about on your own.  That can be a very difficult thing to admit to other people – but sometimes, it’s even harder to admit it to yourself.

When you think about it, isn’t that just the picture of the Christian life though?  We have this problem called sin that is sometimes hard to acknowledge.  We think we can work our way out of it, that if we set our minds to it or go to church enough or spend enough time with the right people that we will be able to fix this issue called sin.  But at some point in our lives, many of us realize that we are powerless over sin – no matter how hard we try or how much good we do, we will always do things we shouldn’t do.  When we admit this problem to God and accept the help He offers to us – Jesus – we can begin our road to recovery. 

Is there a problem or issue in your life that has become controlling?  Is it something you frequently hide from or brush under the rug as “no big deal”?  Maybe you live with someone of whom this is true – a mother who drinks until she passes out every night but just thinks she likes having a few drinks, a sibling who has violent mood swings but isn’t willing to wonder aloud whether there’s some kind of imbalance, a friend who hurts herself but thinks everyone does it…If you are one of the people struggling with a hurt, habit, or hang-up that you really would like some support for, I encourage you to talk to someone, either a trusted adult or friend.  Issues of shame only have power while they remain in the dark so bring them into the light!  I know it’s hard.  I’m still working through it myself.  And if you have friends or family who you wish would seek some kind of help, pray for them and pray for wisdom to know how to reach them.  I’ll be praying for you too.

“I have spent enough time in the past…” – 1 Peter 4:3

*For Christian-based recovery for all life-controlling issues, visit Celebrate Recovery.

Talking to God after a Rape or Assault

Oct 23 – One in Four

Where do I begin on an issue as serious as all this?  How does a conversation for faith beginners and curious seekers address one of the greatest hurts a person can know?

Rape.  Sexual Assault.  They have become far too common in this world of ours.  In the grand scheme of things, I suppose it would be easy to rejoice that the numbers of these attacks have been declining – which is certainly something to be thankful for – but that doesn’t make what happens any less real or less painful for the people who go through it.

There are so many things in this life that make it easy to ask that burning question of God – “Why?”  It makes sense to ask, I suppose, doesn’t it?  But I don’t know the answer.  I wish there was a simple one.  God never promised us an easy life.  In fact, He said that we “will have trouble” (John 16:33).  It can be so tempting to turn our backs on God when tragedy strikes, but I encourage you instead to tell Him about it.  Talk to Him about your frustrations.  Share with Him your questions and your anger.  Yell at Him if you need to or cry.  Take a look at the book of Psalms.  The whole book is people expressing their emotions to God.  The authors write things like “How long, Lord?  Will you forget me forever?”  “Why do You hide yourself in times of trouble?”  Tell God your hurts and lean on Him as your strength.

Jesus does say that “In this world, you will have trouble” but in the same verse, He says, “Take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

I pray that verses like the ones from yesterday and perhaps the ones found in Lamentations 3:21-33 will be an encouragement to you.  If you have never told anyone about the way you were hurt, let someone know, whether it’s a parent, friend, or other trusted adult.  I pray your comfort and your healing and your ability to still trust in and rely on God.

*If you have been the victim of a sexual assault and would like to seek additional support, please visit RAINN.

The Self-Esteem Struggle

Oct 22 – Worthy

What is it about the issue of self-image?  What is it that grabs hold of our hearts and minds and makes us feel worthless, “less than”?  Listen to these words that God speaks over you:

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
       I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

 When you pass through the waters,
       I will be with you;
       and when you pass through the rivers,
       they will not sweep over you.
       When you walk through the fire,
       you will not be burned;
       the flames will not set you ablaze.

 For I am the LORD, your God,
       the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
       and because I love you,
       I will give men in exchange for you,
       and people in exchange for your life.

 Do not be afraid, for I am with you…

We are not alone.  And we are so very loved.  If this is something you continually struggle with, I encourage you to pray Romans 12:2, to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  When negative thoughts come into your mind, do what 2 Corinthians 10:5 says and “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  When we allow the power of God into our lives and also make our own efforts to change our thought patterns, transformation really does occur.  I pray that you find healing, my friends. 

A Truly Irresistible Revolution

Oct 20-21  Another Way is Possible

If you are ready to have your world, the way you think, the way you live, and the way you view Jesus and the Scriptures turned completely upside down, read The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne.  It is not for the faint of heart.  It is not for the apathetic.  It is for those genuinely willing to abandon the systems and values of this world and follow Jesus into the kingdom of God on Earth that He envisioned in the first place.

It is so hard to attempt to explain a worldview in a couple of short paragraphs, but it is far harder to put this worldview into practice.  How would your life be different if, for every action you took and every dollar you spent, you considered the global impact you might have?  What if you were brutally honest in asking ”what would Jesus do” in every situation – and then you actually followed through with that?  Do the clothing companies you buy from pay their international laborers a fair wage?  What about the coffee growers of the coffee you drink?  What about statements of Jesus that we would like to ignore like when He says to His disciples in Luke 12:33 “Sell your possessions and give to the poor”?  What if Jesus really meant what He said?

I am absolutely nohere near living this way.  I am nowhere near abandoning the comfort and convenience I have grown accustomed to to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, but I am learning.  I am learning about community, about the beauty in relying on one another for everything, about the power in sharing life and resources.  I am learning to let go of things, to recognize that they will fade and rust and disappear and that other people need them a whole lot more than I do.

I encourage you, if you are willing and if you are brave enough, to take a look at your life through Shane Claiborne’s eyes.  I believe he has powerful words to share with all of us that perhaps will reawaken us to the spirit of Jesus which can be so much more real than we allow it to be.

*For more information on Shane Claiborne and the Philadelphia community he co-founded, please visit thesimpleway.org