Imaginiff

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A few months ago I played a game called "Imaginiff" for the very first time. When a card is taken and read, a person's name is placed in the blank. All players must choose which of the scenerios that person would be found in. They must "Imaginiff" that person where doing something and decide how that person would react. I learned a great deal of things about the people I played this game with and also learned how everyone had a different perception of that person.

Now a few years ago I worked at a group home for abused, neglected, and delinquent teens. I sat in a training one day when asked to think of my most horrible and terrifying secret that I would be afraid for anyone to find out about. After thinking about it, I had come up with that one. Then I along with others where told to imagine if we had to get up in front of an entire audience of people and tell that same secret. We were asked to think about the reactions we immediately had. This included physical reactions as well as mental and emotional reactions. It was explained to us that this is how it would feel if we or those clients of ours were to be exposed in their secrets. Not only would there be fear, hurt, anger, and saddness but the most prominent feeling was that of SHAME.

Max Lucado once wrote "If pride goes before a fall, then shame is what keeps you from getting up after one." My secrets had held me in thick, unpenetrable chains until one night I cried out.
"At that time people will sing about
the pleasant vineyard. 'I the Lord, will
care for that vineyard; I will water it at the
right time. No one will hurt it, because I will
guard it day and night. I am not angry. If
anyone builds a wall of thornbushes in war, I will
march to it and burn it. But if anyone
comes to me for safety and wants
to make peace with me, he should
come and make peace with me."
Isaiah 27:2-5
(NCV)
In these verses, God is letting His people know that they have done wrong and that one day He will take them back into Him if they want to make that choice to come to Him. He doesn't say for them to change everything first and then come. He just says "come and make peace with me." He knows our shame of our secrets. His son has borne them all. Not only did He bare them upon His back but Hebrews 12:2 says "Jesus accepted the shame as if it were nothing." Most of the time we take those secrets that more than likely began in pride and we get lost and covered in the shame for fear that they will be played in front of those we love the most or played before anyone to see those parts of us. Can you imagine what Christ went through when not only your sin was placed on Him but the sin of every human past, present, and future? And yet He considered it to be nothing. He loved us so much, He was willing to die before everyone with the whole world knowing that shame upon Him so that we could live a life without the chains and live instead in freedom. He became the worst of mankind so we could live the best life of what God the Father has for us. But will we let go of that shame and instead grasp the life He has for us. Imagine that!

Jesus Did NOT respect persons.

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"Jesus did not respect persons." When I first read this I was thrown a little off guard. I wasn't expecting that and didn't quite understand. This is why you should always read the entire paragraph or section you are in. As I continued to read it stated, "Even His enemies admitted, 'You are not swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are" (Matthew 22:16, NIV) (excerpt from Be Mature by Warren W. Wiersbe) Our Lord did not care what material things people had or if they had influence in the community. He cared about their hearts and whether they accepted The Truth from His Father in Heaven. Warren W. Wiersbe also wrote, "We tend to cater to the rich because we hope to get something from them, and we avoid the poor because they embarrass us. Jesus did not do this, and He cannot approve of it."

We as people must choose to not only read about the deity of Christ but show it in our relationships. If one only chooses to read and talk about it then they are not living the life Christ has chosen for them. It must not be done to get another's praise or to win the influence of others. It has to be done with the right motive.

This past weekend, I had one of the most amazing weekends I have had the pleasure of having in a LONG time. I spent it at the With Love From Jesus- Charlotte Ministry. They were having the 1st Annual BBQ Fundraiser to support the ministry. This is a ministry that embodies the meaning of living out God's Word and not just speaking about it. People of all walks of life are accepted and treated with compassion. Economics, status, or materialism in no way has it's place at the table with this ministry. God's Grace ignores all these differences. The Founder/Director, Joy McGuire, started the ministry on her back porch. She like, I, have always had a heart and passion for serving others and treating them with the unconditional love that Christ has given us. From the beginning of time humans have fought over many things especially beliefs and differences in one another. When Peter first went to the house of a Gentile, him being a Jew, this was not acceptable. But he did it because he knew that the work God had called him to was to love ALL people. We try everyday in small ways to make others be just like us in some way. If God wanted two of us He would have created two. Even twins have differences. Look at the majority of today's churches. They are still segregated in some way. The one place the unconditional love of Christ should be completely embodied, and it is not. "Love your neighbor!" Who is your neighbor today? Who has God called you to Love? To build up? To encourage? To get beyond your own selfish views, thoughts, and differences with? Please take the time to look through the site at the top. How can you help out to show God's Love not based on Respect and the outward appearances but on the inward heart of your neighbor?

Where is Your Treasure?

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20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:20-22


Several days ago I was listening to the radio as I was going to pay a bill. The woman began to tell a story about her family at the beach. She described how she had a large desire for something and her daughter had a large desire for something. Her daughter wanted sometime in her life to find a real shark's tooth on the beach, not in a gift shop somewhere. Every time she had found one before her daddy would always tell her, "No that's not one or no that's not the real thing." Her heart would sink each time. This particular day she was walking along the beach with her family searching intently for her treasured object, giving every piece of her to just lay her eyes on it once. She eventually came across something she thought was a real shark's tooth. She picked it up and showed it to her father with anticipation that she would finally hear "Good job, You found one!" She waited and he finally told her it was a real shark's tooth. She was elated and began yelling that she had found her treasure. Her parents asked her if she would like for them to hold onto it for her so she would not lose it. She said,"No.", and let them know she could do it. She continued her walk along the beach and about five minutes later her mom began to hear screeching sobs. The little girl had lost her valued treasure. As I continued to listen to the story it reminded me of how we so often try to do things on our own and in our own strength. We try to acquire treasures that one day will be lost and gone anyway. We try to place our value in things that are going to be destroyed.
1Now listen, you rich people,
weep and wail because of the misery
that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted,
and moths have eaten your clothes.
3Your gold and silver are corroded.
Their corrosion will testify against you
and eat your flesh like fire. You have
hoarded wealth in the last days.
James 5:1-3
God wants us to depend on Him and place our worth and value in Him. He wants us to build up the treasures that will last for Eternity. He wants us build our foundation on Him and therefore it will not disappear or corrode or rot away. He wants us to look to Him for our answers. So where is your treasure today? Where is your heart? God wants you to live life and live it abundantly and the way to do this is to remember who and what we are living for.

18Command them to do good,

to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous

and willing to share. 19In this way

they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation

for the coming age, so that they may

take hold of the life that is truly life.

20Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care.

Turn away from godless chatter and

the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge

1 Timothy 6:18-20



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