Psalm 67:1-7
Our God, be kind and bless us!
Be pleased and smile.
Then everyone on earth
will learn to follow you,
and all nations will see
your power to save us.
Make everyone praise you
and shout your praises.
Let the nations celebrate
with joyful songs,
because you judge fairly
and guide all nations.
Make everyone praise you
and shout your praises.
Our God has blessed the earth
with a wonderful harvest!
Pray for his blessings
to continue
and for everyone on earth
to worship our God.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
It has been four weeks this morning since my mother left for heaven. My mother and I did not physically see
each other all that often – even though we lived in the same town.
Mother traveled a lot…and when she was home, she was busy with writing
projects and I was busy with little ones. So we used the telephone and
e-mail messages to keep in touch.
One of the frequent topics of
conversation between us was politics and the state of the world. And
one of the things that drove my mother nuts was when people would speak
with an “exclusive” attitude. In other words, when people railed
against those who practiced other religions…those of other races…and
those who discriminated against people who were different from them – in
any way…she bristled and was deeply grieved by these words and actions.
As I read this passage, I thought of our conversations…and how
Mother and I both shared the desire that EVERYONE would come to know
Jesus. But a lot of us are doing everything in our power to ensure that
this doesn’t happen. How? By acting superior…ramming our Christian
faith down the throats of others…declaring in words and actions that it
is “God’s way or the highway” (translation…OUR way). We really aren’t
seeking HIS will…we just want everyone to agree with US!
Go back
and CAREFULLY read this passage again. Learn from the psalmist…be kind
and smile…bless others and give them a reason to want to follow our
Jesus. Operate in with an attitude of gratitude…with joy and a continual
declaration of the blessings of God in your own life. Demonstrate how
God meets your every need – in everything from the joy of your happiest
days to the depths of your most profound grief and loss. Judge fairly –
or better yet, don’t judge at all. Be a walking example of life in
Christ that makes others say, “I want what he/she has!”
The world
is filled with so much hatred…but if you read scripture, this is
nothing new, either! We seem to be poor, slow learners, when it comes
to Christian discipleship and “how to win friends and influence
people!” But we can change this! We can start today to operate in the
words of this Psalm…to praise God and show our gratitude for His
blessings…to demonstrate to the world at large how powerful His presence
is in our lives…how He makes EVERYTHING better. We can give them
something to seek - JESUS, living in and through us.
My mother
was not perfect. None of us are. But over and again during her last
days, people spoke of Mother’s kindness and encouragement…and her
steadfast Christian faith. She demonstrated the blessings of Jesus to
others…and they noticed. Can the same be said of you?
©2016 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label superiority. Show all posts
Showing posts with label superiority. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for September 24, 2015
Proverbs 26:12
There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who says,
“I’m really smart!”
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
When I was a little girl, my mother would make tuna casserole for us when my dad was away on business. Daddy did not like tuna casserole…or fish sticks…and I loved both. So it was a rare treat to have either one. I find that I make a lot of the dishes from my childhood for Timothy, Zola and Nathan. I suppose that I am carrying on the tradition - and perpetuating fond memories from my own childhood.
So one day, I made a tuna casserole as lunch for Nathan, Greg and me. It was very simple…a basic cream sauce, mini bow-tie pasta, some frozen “English” peas, and a can of sliced carrots…plus a couple of cans of drained tuna. After I mixed all of this together, I added American cheese. I was running short on time, so I did not bake this dish like my mother did (complete with crushed potato chips on top for texture – and fun!), but I let the “flavors” melt and blend together a little before serving. Can’t you just feel the love?!
Nathan eagerly plowed into his plate of pasta…and he meticulously picked out every single bow-tie and ate them. He ate the creamy sauce and tuna that clung to the noodles…but just as carefully, he left a pile of green peas and carrots. Then he declared, “I’m done!” “No,” I told him…”you have not finished.” “Yes, I have!” he protested. I insisted he needed to eat his peas and carrots. “But I don’t ‘wike’ them,” he said. “They’re yukky!” I argued that he had eaten peas and carrots countless times…that he LOVED them. He insisted he did not.
I told Nathan that he could not have anything else to eat – or get down from the counter – until he finished his lunch. So I got a spoon and presented him with some peas and carrots and said, “Just try one bite.” Reluctantly – and with much fanfare and drama – this stubborn 3-year-old tried the vegetables. And he looked at me with great surprise and delight and said, “Hey! These aren’t yukky! They taste GOOD!” He began to shovel in the peas and carrots…and every few bites, he would say, “This is so GOOD!” And then he had another helping of the casserole!
There are a lot of things that three-year-olds say they don’t like – and haven’t even tried. Life is full of seemingly “yukky” things when we are young. But if we are still operating like this at our ages, there is a problem. Assuming that we “know it all” is not only incorrect…it often makes us look incredibly foolish.
Too many people are spouting off these days without all the facts…speaking what is their “truth” rather than God’s…and trying to appear smarter than the rest of us. In reality, they are looking rather foolish and hurting other people…AND their “Christian” witness. As a friend of mine so eloquently asked, “Why do people presume to speak for God?” Understand her question…she is not suggesting that God can’t use us to share His message with others. What she means is…why do we feel entitled to put our own spin on things?
I’m reminded of the question asked of Jesus in Luke 20:2, where the chief priests, the teachers, and the nation’s leaders “asked him, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?’” In other words…”Who died and made you King?” Read this chapter of Luke for yourself to see how Jesus responded with a question they could not answer…at least not without incriminating themselves. The point is that we are often just as immature as a three-year-old who declares his food to be “yukky”…and we usually look just about as foolish!
It’s time for us to check ourselves…to see where we are acting more than a little high and mighty…and damaging our Christian witness in the process. Where are we coming off as “know-it-alls” about everything from social issues to scripture interpretation to how much everyone loves and adores us? Where are we looking more foolish than a toddler? Isn’t it time we opened our hearts, minds, eyes and ears and heard from God before we declared ourselves to be “King?” Will this be the day that you get started?
©2015 Debbie Robus
There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who says,
“I’m really smart!”
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
When I was a little girl, my mother would make tuna casserole for us when my dad was away on business. Daddy did not like tuna casserole…or fish sticks…and I loved both. So it was a rare treat to have either one. I find that I make a lot of the dishes from my childhood for Timothy, Zola and Nathan. I suppose that I am carrying on the tradition - and perpetuating fond memories from my own childhood.
So one day, I made a tuna casserole as lunch for Nathan, Greg and me. It was very simple…a basic cream sauce, mini bow-tie pasta, some frozen “English” peas, and a can of sliced carrots…plus a couple of cans of drained tuna. After I mixed all of this together, I added American cheese. I was running short on time, so I did not bake this dish like my mother did (complete with crushed potato chips on top for texture – and fun!), but I let the “flavors” melt and blend together a little before serving. Can’t you just feel the love?!
Nathan eagerly plowed into his plate of pasta…and he meticulously picked out every single bow-tie and ate them. He ate the creamy sauce and tuna that clung to the noodles…but just as carefully, he left a pile of green peas and carrots. Then he declared, “I’m done!” “No,” I told him…”you have not finished.” “Yes, I have!” he protested. I insisted he needed to eat his peas and carrots. “But I don’t ‘wike’ them,” he said. “They’re yukky!” I argued that he had eaten peas and carrots countless times…that he LOVED them. He insisted he did not.
I told Nathan that he could not have anything else to eat – or get down from the counter – until he finished his lunch. So I got a spoon and presented him with some peas and carrots and said, “Just try one bite.” Reluctantly – and with much fanfare and drama – this stubborn 3-year-old tried the vegetables. And he looked at me with great surprise and delight and said, “Hey! These aren’t yukky! They taste GOOD!” He began to shovel in the peas and carrots…and every few bites, he would say, “This is so GOOD!” And then he had another helping of the casserole!
There are a lot of things that three-year-olds say they don’t like – and haven’t even tried. Life is full of seemingly “yukky” things when we are young. But if we are still operating like this at our ages, there is a problem. Assuming that we “know it all” is not only incorrect…it often makes us look incredibly foolish.
Too many people are spouting off these days without all the facts…speaking what is their “truth” rather than God’s…and trying to appear smarter than the rest of us. In reality, they are looking rather foolish and hurting other people…AND their “Christian” witness. As a friend of mine so eloquently asked, “Why do people presume to speak for God?” Understand her question…she is not suggesting that God can’t use us to share His message with others. What she means is…why do we feel entitled to put our own spin on things?
I’m reminded of the question asked of Jesus in Luke 20:2, where the chief priests, the teachers, and the nation’s leaders “asked him, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?’” In other words…”Who died and made you King?” Read this chapter of Luke for yourself to see how Jesus responded with a question they could not answer…at least not without incriminating themselves. The point is that we are often just as immature as a three-year-old who declares his food to be “yukky”…and we usually look just about as foolish!
It’s time for us to check ourselves…to see where we are acting more than a little high and mighty…and damaging our Christian witness in the process. Where are we coming off as “know-it-alls” about everything from social issues to scripture interpretation to how much everyone loves and adores us? Where are we looking more foolish than a toddler? Isn’t it time we opened our hearts, minds, eyes and ears and heard from God before we declared ourselves to be “King?” Will this be the day that you get started?
©2015 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for November 15, 2013
2 Corinthians 10:12-16
We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.
We aren’t making outrageous claims here. We’re sticking to the limits of what God has set for us. But there can be no question that those limits reach to and include you. We’re not moving into someone else’s “territory.” We were already there with you, weren’t we? We were the first ones to get there with the Message of Christ, right? So how can there be any question of overstepping our bounds by writing or visiting you?
We’re not barging in on the rightful work of others, interfering with their ministries, demanding a place in the sun with them. What we’re hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you’ll play a part within our expanding work. And we’ll all still be within the limits God sets as we proclaim the Message in countries beyond Corinth. But we have no intention of moving in on what others have done and taking credit for it.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I recently read a truly poignant essay that someone posted on Facebook about a woman who stood in the checkout line behind another woman who had five children with her. Two were blond like the “mother” figure and dressed rather nicely. Their appearance was neat and clean. The other three appeared to be of mixed race, and they were disheveled, dirty and unruly. The “mother” was struggling to put her purchases on the conveyor belt… juggle a handful of forms… and figure out how to use an EBT (food stamp) card – all while trying to corral five small children.
People behind the author of this essay began to mumble loudly. “Bet she doesn’t even know who the baby daddy is for those kids… whaddya wanna bet she pays with food stamps…there goes our taxpayer dollars – we’re the ones who are really paying for all of this!” The essayist seethed for a few minutes, and then she stepped forward and offered to help the “mother”, asking, “Yours or fosters?” The “mother” replied… “Both… these three were just dropped off with me… with only the clothes on their backs.” She handed them each a coat as the clerk rang up the price. The essayist offered that she was a foster mother herself… and she extended her help with sorting the food items according to WIC regulations… and showed the “mother” how to use her EBT card, which had come with the three foster children. When she had finished and the family was leaving, the essayist turned to the critics behind her… and she let them have it! She closed her story by noting that after her rant was over, the folks standing behind her moved to another checkout line.
If you go back and read the verses leading up to this passage from 2 Corinthians 10, you see that people were accusing the Apostle Paul of superiority… of talking rather strongly to them in his letters about how they should be conducting themselves. Word had apparently gotten back to Paul that some of the Corinthians wondered if he “walked the walk” as much as he “talked the talk”! And don’t you know people like that? Don’t you know people who are quick to criticize someone else for the very things they are doing themselves… or to make unfair comparisons or assumptions… and to act disrespectfully as a result?
There are so many examples of this that I could cite, but I bet you can think of plenty on your own. The point is that we often want to throw credit – and blame – around where it doesn’t belong… and in doing so, we are disrespectful toward others. Our criticism and lack of regard for other people often seems to know no bounds! Ninety-nine percent of the time, we do not have all of the facts. That person who appears to have it all together and be incredibly successful and fortunate may be going through all sorts of heartbreaking things in private. The disheveled man or woman in the checkout line may be in a hurry to get home to a house filled with children who were up all night… and wondering what he/she will feed them for dinner and how they will stretch the paycheck for another week or more. Your cranky, difficult grandfather or grandmother may be secretly worried sick that he/she is going to end up in a nursing home and left to die alone.
Worse yet, we judge others’ level of faith. We conclude that this one or that one “is not a believer” or “doesn’t feel the Holy Spirit”. Most certainly they are not as faith-filled as we are… and if they don’t jump on our bandwagon, we all know where they are headed! If they really loved Jesus, they would be at church every Sunday. If they really had a relationship with the Holy Spirit, they would treat us… and others… more kindly. If God was top priority in their lives, they would have their act together! Admit it… you’ve uttered more than a couple of these – or something very close!
The time has come for us to all start respecting each other… to stop assuming that we know what the other person is thinking, feeling, or experiencing… and to work on refining our relationship with God. Only then will we be able to do His work… and to meet others right where they are. Only when our actions match our talk can we relate to one another on a level playing field.
If we are humble and sincere in your daily living, others will notice. If we stop judging others without all of the facts and making assumptions… if we live in a way that honors our Christian discipleship and the sacrifices of Jesus on our behalf, we can be confident that our actions are not misinterpreted or overstated. When others recognize us as respectful, honest, humble and sincere, they will not mistake our witness and ministry for grandstanding and superiority.
We must remember to always give credit where credit is due… to recognize God as our Supreme Source – for everything – and we must duly note that He is the only one worthy to judge any of us. When we operate in this truth, we are no longer even capable of judging or disrespecting others. It simply isn’t on our radar! And we are free to do the work of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ… of ministering to others and reaching them as equals. This is my fervent goal as a Disciple of Christ… is it yours?
©2013 Debbie Robus
We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.
We aren’t making outrageous claims here. We’re sticking to the limits of what God has set for us. But there can be no question that those limits reach to and include you. We’re not moving into someone else’s “territory.” We were already there with you, weren’t we? We were the first ones to get there with the Message of Christ, right? So how can there be any question of overstepping our bounds by writing or visiting you?
We’re not barging in on the rightful work of others, interfering with their ministries, demanding a place in the sun with them. What we’re hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you’ll play a part within our expanding work. And we’ll all still be within the limits God sets as we proclaim the Message in countries beyond Corinth. But we have no intention of moving in on what others have done and taking credit for it.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I recently read a truly poignant essay that someone posted on Facebook about a woman who stood in the checkout line behind another woman who had five children with her. Two were blond like the “mother” figure and dressed rather nicely. Their appearance was neat and clean. The other three appeared to be of mixed race, and they were disheveled, dirty and unruly. The “mother” was struggling to put her purchases on the conveyor belt… juggle a handful of forms… and figure out how to use an EBT (food stamp) card – all while trying to corral five small children.
People behind the author of this essay began to mumble loudly. “Bet she doesn’t even know who the baby daddy is for those kids… whaddya wanna bet she pays with food stamps…there goes our taxpayer dollars – we’re the ones who are really paying for all of this!” The essayist seethed for a few minutes, and then she stepped forward and offered to help the “mother”, asking, “Yours or fosters?” The “mother” replied… “Both… these three were just dropped off with me… with only the clothes on their backs.” She handed them each a coat as the clerk rang up the price. The essayist offered that she was a foster mother herself… and she extended her help with sorting the food items according to WIC regulations… and showed the “mother” how to use her EBT card, which had come with the three foster children. When she had finished and the family was leaving, the essayist turned to the critics behind her… and she let them have it! She closed her story by noting that after her rant was over, the folks standing behind her moved to another checkout line.
If you go back and read the verses leading up to this passage from 2 Corinthians 10, you see that people were accusing the Apostle Paul of superiority… of talking rather strongly to them in his letters about how they should be conducting themselves. Word had apparently gotten back to Paul that some of the Corinthians wondered if he “walked the walk” as much as he “talked the talk”! And don’t you know people like that? Don’t you know people who are quick to criticize someone else for the very things they are doing themselves… or to make unfair comparisons or assumptions… and to act disrespectfully as a result?
There are so many examples of this that I could cite, but I bet you can think of plenty on your own. The point is that we often want to throw credit – and blame – around where it doesn’t belong… and in doing so, we are disrespectful toward others. Our criticism and lack of regard for other people often seems to know no bounds! Ninety-nine percent of the time, we do not have all of the facts. That person who appears to have it all together and be incredibly successful and fortunate may be going through all sorts of heartbreaking things in private. The disheveled man or woman in the checkout line may be in a hurry to get home to a house filled with children who were up all night… and wondering what he/she will feed them for dinner and how they will stretch the paycheck for another week or more. Your cranky, difficult grandfather or grandmother may be secretly worried sick that he/she is going to end up in a nursing home and left to die alone.
Worse yet, we judge others’ level of faith. We conclude that this one or that one “is not a believer” or “doesn’t feel the Holy Spirit”. Most certainly they are not as faith-filled as we are… and if they don’t jump on our bandwagon, we all know where they are headed! If they really loved Jesus, they would be at church every Sunday. If they really had a relationship with the Holy Spirit, they would treat us… and others… more kindly. If God was top priority in their lives, they would have their act together! Admit it… you’ve uttered more than a couple of these – or something very close!
The time has come for us to all start respecting each other… to stop assuming that we know what the other person is thinking, feeling, or experiencing… and to work on refining our relationship with God. Only then will we be able to do His work… and to meet others right where they are. Only when our actions match our talk can we relate to one another on a level playing field.
If we are humble and sincere in your daily living, others will notice. If we stop judging others without all of the facts and making assumptions… if we live in a way that honors our Christian discipleship and the sacrifices of Jesus on our behalf, we can be confident that our actions are not misinterpreted or overstated. When others recognize us as respectful, honest, humble and sincere, they will not mistake our witness and ministry for grandstanding and superiority.
We must remember to always give credit where credit is due… to recognize God as our Supreme Source – for everything – and we must duly note that He is the only one worthy to judge any of us. When we operate in this truth, we are no longer even capable of judging or disrespecting others. It simply isn’t on our radar! And we are free to do the work of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ… of ministering to others and reaching them as equals. This is my fervent goal as a Disciple of Christ… is it yours?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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