Fickle

Verse: Acts 10:34-35
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

It is funny how we can be in a person’s favor one minute then seemingly in the very next minute we can find ourselves very much our of their favor, even becoming and outcast. Jesus himself is well acquainted with this phenomenon. The people of His time were praising Him and waving palm branches one minute, then a short while later were yelling for His crucifixion.
Losing someone’s favor hurts, yet to be completely truthful it would be dishonest and even unhealthy to try to remain in someone’s favor at all times. Remaining in someone’s favor would mean extraordinary efforts on our part, never knowing if those effort were going to be good enough; or on the other person’s part undeserved and untruthful praise and adoration. The eventual outcome of both sides of this fence are a big let down and all the emotions that go with that; depression, self-doubt, and feelings of worthlessness. The only way to recover from the turmoil that the fickleness of others inflicts is to recognize the character of God. He is loving, patient, kind, merciful, and truthful, but He is never fickle. Therefore, we never risk losing His love.

It is helpful to know what God says and thinks about us. He says, we are made in His image (Genesis 1:27), we are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), and we are precious and honored in His sight(Isaiah 43:4). We never risk losing His love!

Your love stands firm forever!

Prayer: Lord, help me forsake the praise of others in favor of praise from you.

Action Plan (James 1:22-25):
Review Genesis 1:27, 1 Peter 2:9, or Isaiah 43:4. Pick one of these verses and memorize it.

Read More:
Galatians 1:10 & Romans 2:11

We've been passed over, but it's a good thing!

I have heard people say again and again, 'God's timing is perfect' and I have always agreed to it without much thought. This Palm Sunday it really hit me just how perfect His timing really is.

A while back I had an opportunity to participate in Beth Moore's study of Esther. This is a wonderful study which I highly recommend. In the Bible, Esther (who is Jewish) becomes queen and finds out that the King and an enemy named Haman, have established a new law that will annihilate all of the Jews. In the study Beth Moore points out the timing of the decree that goes out to all of the provinces in this kingdom. She states that the decree to kill all of the Jews goes out on Passover (Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman, p. 73). So, here we see that God's timing is perfect because through His timing He is saying this law has been passed, but the total destruction intended by the law will not be carried out. The total destruction of the Jews will be 'passed over.'

So, this Sunday I was thinking about Jesus being crucified during the Jewish celebration of Passover (see Matthew 26-27). As you recall, the celebration of Passover was because the Jewish people put lamb's blood on the door posts of their houses so that the death angel would pass over their home and not take their first born sons (see Exodus 12) during the plagues of Egypt. So, the first Passover means that the Jewish people were exempt from God's wrath and punishment. Now consider that Jesus was crucified during Passover. This means through our belief in Jesus as God's son, God was providing a way for all of us to escape His wrath. Our punishment can be 'passed over' if we believe in Jesus' sacrifice (and that He died for our sins), and God was emphasizing His willingness to 'pass over' our punishment by Jesus' death on the cross during the festival of Passover. Hallelujah! Our God is a complex and amazing God, and His timing is indeed perfect.

Special thanks to Angie, Chris, and Hazel for helping me clarify this point.

So good I had to share!

I was reading 'The Word for you Today' for April 12th and thought this devotion was so good I wanted to share part of it with you. The verse was Romans 12:2.

"As you agree with God, believing what He says is true, change automatically happens. You start to think differently, talk differently, and act differently. Be patient with yourself; it's a process that develops in stages. Would you think there was something wrong with your child because they couldn't walk perfectly on the first few tries? No, you're delighted each time they take a step. When they fall you pick them up. When they mess up you clean them up and encourage them to try again. You never stop working with them! And God does the same with us. He's not angry because you haven't 'arrived,' He's pleased that you're pressing on, endeavoring to stay on the path." (The Word For You Today, April 12th, p. 26)

Sometimes I become frustrated with myself because I try to make, or add, godly changes to my life and I can do those things for a while, but I usually end up struggling to continue those changes. Then, I find myself feeling fearful that He is going to give up on me and that lie makes me give up on Him. I give up on Him, thinking, ‘oh well, since I am no longer of any use, or value to Him I guess I can quit trying.' I could not be more wrong. He has NOT given up on us and He WON’T give up on us because He cannot! (2 Timothy 2:13) It is in His nature to continue seeking us out.

Don’t Give up or Give in!