Jesus

Donkey Days

It’s okay to be an ass. Yes, you did read that correctly.donkey

There are some non-human characters in the Bible that are very intriguing, and one animal I find to be used for big assignments is the donkey. There are two Old Testament stories that stick out when I think of donkeys, and the first is Balaam’s donkey, the only animal in the Bible that spoke and was used by God to turn back the heart of Balaam and keep him from doing something reckless. Then there was Saul’s donkey that got lost, nothing unusual, but it was on his path of searching for his donkey that he met Samuel who told him he would be king of Israel. Donkeys, though there is nothing extraordinary about them, they did what they were meant to do, and God did the extraordinary through them. Let me give you the greatest example.

I will never forget the message of the colt. The gospels tell the story of a young donkey that had never been ridden and was tied up. Jesus told two of his disciples to go get it, and if asked, tell the owner that the Lord needed it. – Sidebar: no matter how little you have or how worthless you think it is, even if it’s immature or small, just give it to the Lord, and trust Him to use it and multiply it.

Now to pick back up. Again, there was nothing special about the colt, the owner, or the colt’s mother, he was just available. It wasn’t really strong, it hadn’t had much experience, if any at all, and it was immature, it had a lot to learn still. All the donkey was doing was being a donkey. No more, no less. It was being exactly what it was meant to be, doing exactly what it was meant to do, and that is what Jesus chose to ride on for his triumphal entry in Jerusalem.

The donkey normally gets a bad connotation with its stubbornness and it’s not a very glamorous animal. That’s just like us. With sin, we have a terrible reputation and our own righteousness is like filthy rags, not glamorous. We disappoint God and we disappoint others. We have those things about us that is our Achilles heel, like the donkey’s stubbornness, but the Lord chooses to look past all that. All He wants is us. He wants us just as we are, whatever stage in life we are in, whatever phase we are going through, whoever or whatever we may be slaved and chained to, like the colt, the Lord wants to set us free and use us. All we have to do is say yes.

Being you for a purpose is being like that donkey, in that you are where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to do, acting and being as what God created you to be. Even if you have some unpleasant things about you or you feel small, weak, immature, useless, insignificant, or inexperienced, God still desires to use you for great things. For it’s usually those times we are doing the day-to-day activities, walking in the center of His will, that God decides to shake things up and intervene on our behalf.

It’s okay to be an ass, for it was an ass that was chosen to usher in the Messiah. Just be you, and do what you are supposed to do, and watch what God will do in, by, through, and for you. I guarantee, He will blow your mind.

Focus on Yours

I can’t tell you how many times I didn’t feel like going to church, but when I did, I got something from it, and this past Sunday was no different. Though it was Easter, I did not feel like going to church and I’m not talking about the 11 am service. No, I am talking about the “son”rise 6 am service. And you know the funny thing, people always say, “since Jesus got up, I guess so can I.” Nope, I disagree. He was sleep for three days. I would’ve gotten up early too if I slept that long. (insert laugh here) Anyhow, as you can imagine, it was hard getting up that early, but I did and I am so glad I did. Like I said prior, whenever you go to church, there is always something there that you can take away, whether it’s a song, the message, a conversation, a hug, or a chance to actually pray purposefully. In my case on Sunday, though it was a part of the message, what I took away was not in the message.

The preacher of that lovely early morning hour came spoke on the story of Jesus appearing to his disciples after his resurrection, and had a fish fry with them. The highlight of the sermon was on Jesus confronting and questioning Peter’s love for him, but I decided to read on the rest of the conversation, which wasn’t addressed in the message, and was blown away.

I actually did an article on another site about it, but Jesus was a funny dude. I mean if you really just read the dialogue in the Gospels alone, he will have you lol-ing for real, because he had absolutely no problem keeping it real, which is exactly what he did in this story. After walking along the shore and getting back on good terms, Peter noticed John behind them and asked Jesus what he was going to do with him, and Jesus pretty much told him to mind his business and not to worry about it because it had no consequence to him.

I am pretty sure I had read this passage before, but it had been so long, so it was refreshing to read it again. What Jesus said to Peter is something that he is telling us today, and that is to stop worrying about what God is doing or going to do in someone else life, which is part of the reason Peter sank before, because he lost focus. If you constantly compare yourself to others and get caught up in what they are doing and how the Lord is blessing them, the Lord has little capacity to bless your fruits because you are not focused on the task He has given you. In today’s language, I think Jesus would have said to Peter flat out “mind yours.” It’s so easy to get caught up in other people’s story, especially when they seem to be further along than us or they happen to be doing the same type of ministry or work we are, and we get prideful and jealous. Just considering the story, Jesus was actually reinstating Peter after he had denied him, so I think Peter wanted to get off the hot seat for a minute; same with us.

When the Lord is working on you, don’t start pointing finger or passing blame. There is another lie that is floating around that says “your actions/attitude determine my attitude and my action are up to you.” That is a dangerous philosophy to live by because as just as it sounds, you can’t determine the consequences, and at the end of it all, you are responsible for your own actions; you will be accountable for how you reacted, not how others acted.

Bottom line, focus on yours. Stick to your function and let God do what He wants in that other person’s life. What the Lord has for them is for them and what’s for you is for you – that also goes for God’s time table. Just like the driving analogy, when you drive you can’t keep looking at your past in your rear view mirror, or else you will crash; likewise, you will crash if you keep looking at the person or people in the lane beside you. As Jesus said to Peter, there is no reason for you to question what God is doing in someone’s life, especially if it has no bearing on what He is doing in your life. If by some chance it does, still, focus on being you for the purpose and task set forth for your specific journey, keep it in prayer, and in due time God will work things out and merge you together.

Be Necessary

The first two verses of Romans chapter 12, are probably two of the most influential verses of the Christian community, but it is the second verse that I want to highlight here.

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.

That verse is loaded with so many things. Following Christ is all about going against the norm, doing the unexpected, taking risks, and witnessing the unimaginable. God calls His children to be separate, to be different. When you look up the word conform, you get some interesting definitions. Conforming is to accept, be similar, do what is expected, or comply with accepted standard. In this case, we should by no means accept the world’s standards or be similar to its thinking, or do what the world expects you to do. We should be the black sheep; it’s expected that a homosexual cannot be delivered; prove the world wrong. It’s common for people to have sex before marriage; beat the statistics. It is natural for people to live with a “every man for himself mentality” and only the strong survive; the greatest man that ever walked Earth was the greatest servant. It is expected for people to walk away from their marriage or children at the first sign of trouble; seek to fix what is broken. It’s the norm for people to think that alcohol, drugs, and pills are the way to fix or drown a problem; cast your cares on Him. Normalcy says that you can only be worth anything if you have money, a good stable job, and or a college degree; God has done so much more with people who had so much less. The world says you don’t need God; I am nothing without Him and I can do nothing apart from Him.

As a child of the Most High, we should stick out like a soar thumb, and even if no one were to ever hear you say the name Jesus, his influence over your life should scream from the mountain top by how you act, speak, and treat others.

The biggest world changers were and are those that do what is not normal or go against the grain. Lisa Bevere said it this way, “don’t conform or compromise to be included. If you’re just like ‘every one else’ your contribution is unnecessary.” Living a life of purpose means that you are not conforming to the way of the world, rather you are just living in it. By conforming, you seek to be accepted, and thus you do what is necessary to fit in. The danger is that when you fit in, you lose who God created you to be, and ultimately miss out on your destiny, because only your true self can do and handle all that is locked up in the Heavens waiting to be bestowed upon you. When you conform, you become a copy cat, and there is never a need for a copy cat, because copy cats are very easily replaceable, but once you choose not to conform or compromise, refusing to be just like “every one else,” the world will see that what you have to offer what one else can; there is only one you, past, present, or future. The world needs you not a clone of someone else; when you understand your identity in Christ and walk in the very essence of who you are, you will be an irreplaceable necessity to the world.

So, I encourage you to be you for a purpose, because it is you that the world needs, your beauty, your personality, you talents, your strengths, your gifts, your faith, your hope, your style, your thoughts, and your ideas. God took His time and created you perfectly just the way He wanted, and the moment we decide to embrace it, that’s when God can execute and multiply His greatness through us.

The world needs you, so be you and no one else.

Unwanted

If you ask me, the Bible is full of some of the greatest love stories ever. With that said, I watched a movie recently based on Hosea and Gomer, and I was really intrigued by the dynamics of the story that I had never picked up on before in reading, so I did some further looking into it and was even more captivated by how it so intensely portrayed our relationship with God.

If you aren’t familiar with the story, Hosea was the prophet God had told to marry the adulterous woman Gomer. Now at first, I was always under the assumption that she was a prostitute, but more than likely she was pure before she got married and developed and the heart of a harlot. I find this very interesting. It wasn’t until after she was married that she started to wander and refused to be satisfied by a man that would do anything for her. It was almost like she didn’t want to be loved, didn’t believe she could be loved and cared for so much, and or didn’t feel worthy to receive the love of a such a man. Thus, it’s almost like she did everything to force Hosea to give up on her. Don’t we do that?

GomerThe love of God is so straightforward, yet it goes beyond comprehension, and many times we feel unworthy or less than fearfully and wonderfully made, and we either we act out, becoming afraid and doubtful of its genuineness and test the love of God, or we just don’t want it, because our pride wants us to be able to live the way we want without boundaries, but I think the latter. Like Gomer, even though God pursues us and reminds us daily of His love, as would Hosea, we decide to live a life that takes that precious love for granted and many times we end up in a far worse situation than we should’ve ever been in. Gomer was no different. As a result of her many escapades, she ended up in bondage waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. But no one wanted her. She had damaged herself so bad that she ranked lower than a slave. No one wanted her.

In spite of his heartbreak, pain, frustration, and sadness Gomer caused, Hosea bought her back and promised to always love her. Woah! What kind of love is that?! That’s God’s heart for us, no matter what we do to Him, He will never stop loving us, because His love for is does not depend on us. Even when we stray, His arms are always open, calling us back home. Now does that mean we can go and act like we ain’t got no sense? Of course not, especially when we know better. Hosea even told her she had to stop doing craziness after he bought her back.

When we get to the point where we realize that God will never abandon us or forsake, no matter who we are or what we do, something in us will want to love Him back and want to have that love with us wherever we go in life. As human, by definition, we do not want God’s love, until we meet Jesus, and even then there are kinks in our lives that we strive to straighten out, but he promises to walk with us and be with us through eternity. Matter of fact, the name Gomer means perfect and complete. That is so mind blowing.

When I read that, it clicked that the story of Hosea and Gomer is a reflection of God’s perfect and complete love and salvation (meaning of Hosea). So what’s the point?

Living a life of purpose, you can’t fight God’s love. He is a gentleman so He won’t force you to accept His love or make you love Him in return, but I mean why wouldn’t you? As Gomer did, and as Hosea prophesied to the Israelites, we try everything and everyone else to satisfy us and make us happy, but sooner or later, at some point we come to understand that the Lord was there the whole time and no one else can love you like He can; no one else has your back like He does. He is all that you need to fulfill His awesome purposes in your life. God thinks you are worth every bit of love He has to offer you, and even if every other person has stopped loving you for one reason or another, even if it was your doing, God will never change His mind about you. You can’t make Him stop loving you. So bask in it on purpose, because if you are like me, even when you are being you for a purpose and living in purpose, sometimes His love is all that is holding you together, the only thing stopping you from giving up.

A Screwtape Perspective

So, if you are unaware, we are living in the final days. Now to give you a time frame or a IMAG1165-1-1date, by no means will I attempt to do so, but I will just say, open your eyes. Jesus laid it out flat when the disciples asked him for the sign of his return in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. For some time I wondered why such bad things foreshadowed his return, but if you haven’t read either of those passages, here are a few things: wars and rumors of wars, nations against nations, weird weather in random places, lack of love, children going against their parents to the extreme, brothers fighting each other, Christian persecution, pestilence, fearful events, and increase in natural disasters or events (famines and earthquakes).

Now if you just watch the news or read through Facebook, you can see the truth of each of these happenings, whether a random shooting, children killing their parents, parents killing their kids, monsoons, earthquakes, diseases and sicknesses, or wars and tension between nations (ie Russian, Ukraine, US, Iraq, Egypt, Liberia, Libya, etc). It’s heartbreaking to be honest and it again just makes me wonder why things are getting so ridiculous. I understand God is sovereign, but it’s like seriously. Then I think well, many of our problems are a result of our desire to not want anything to do with Him or His Word, just in the US alone, not to mention the persecution of Christians around the world.

Besides all that, I have been reading C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters.” So far the book has blown my mind to get a further glimpse into the mind of Satan and the tactics of him and his counterparts. Nonetheless, in one of the letters, Uncle was speaking on how the idea that war or pestilence are a shoe in for attacking the faith alone is an exaggeration and can actually hinder the Enemy’s desire for people to undermine their faith and keep people from turning to God. The reasoning is that in the midst of things like war and pestilence, people tend to call out and seek redemption from a higher power, the Enemy of the Enemy.

To bring it all together, through all the terrible things that are happening in the world we live in, God is getting our attention so that we can get right with Him before it is too late. If Jesus would come back when the world was all honky dory, there would be no incentive to get right, and more people would be lost. With all that is going on, people are seeking help and an answer for what is happening. I am hear to say Jesus is that answer an he is on his way back, and with everything occurring, he is providing more and more opportunities for people to come to a saving knowledge of His love, mercy, grace, power, and redemption and salvation. Uncle Screwtape (a high ranking demon in the book) even said so Himself, it’s through the suffering that people turn to God, and the Devil and his demons don’t like that; misery loves company and they will do all in their power to bring as many people to Hell with them.

Open your eyes. Your God-given purpose, your destiny, your calling is so pertinent to giving and or providing an answer to the struggles of so many others. By choosing to be all that God made you to be, being you for a purpose, you will help usher in the coming of the Lord Jesus, in a way that only you can, providing hope to those that need to hear and know that a better day is coming.