Cinderella Slams the Mop

The Cinderella story captivates us in so many ways, but one aspect tends to be overlooked.

The house she cleaned day in and day out was rightfully hers, an inheritance from her father. What the wicked stepmother claimed by a marriage certificate Cinderella could claim through blood, but the strong took advantage of the weak.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Jesus said, “How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man?” (Matthew 12:29)

I’ve always thought of this as Bad Guy over Good Guy. The Bad Guy breaks into the house, ties up the Good Guy and robs him. The Enemy comes against us with shame, fear, and lies. As Cinderella did with her stepmother, we believe the lies and he ties us up, making us slaves in our own house, stealing our joy, peace, love, and truth.

But the reverse is also true. The Good Guy can tie up the Bad Guy.  We can tie up and rob the Enemy, take back our joy, peace, and truth. Take back our lives.  

The Enemy has no power over us except what we allow.

Jesus never intended for us be slaves. He came to bring us good news and God’s favor, to heal our wounds, and to set us free from the Enemy (Isaiah 61).  

It’s time we tie him up and take back what he has stolen (James 4:7).  

It’s time to seek out healing and freedom and abundance (Matthew 11:28,29).

It’s time to live as we were intended to – in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24); in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) ; in power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

This is your house, Cinderella. Take it back. 

We Are All Caught in the Act

From morguefile.com

The guardians of religion said to Jesus, “Teacher, this person was caught in the act of homosexuality.  In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such people. Now what do you say?”  

What? That’s not what the Bible says?

Oh I see. I copied those verses wrong. I apologize.

“Teacher, this person was caught in the act of lying”.

What? Still incorrect? I’ll try again.

“Teacher, this person was caught in the act of not keeping the Sabbath.”

*Sigh* Well, you go ahead then. Insert your own sin.

What is it for you? Stealing? Adultery? Murder? Coveting? Misusing the name of the Lord? Dishonoring your parents? Boiling a goat in its mother’s milk?

….But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

That’s not plural. It’s singular.

He didn’t point his first finger at her.

He didn’t flash his middle finger at them.

He didn’t give a thumbs up to anyone.

Whichever finger it was, He wrote with it.

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at them.”  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

He didn’t stand and stare them down. 

He didn’t pose with his nose in the air.  

He wasn’t commenting on a social media thread.

He stooped, below the level of their self-righteousness.

It was not what they expected, but it was effective.

 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the person still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

 “No one, sir.”

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus doesn’t condemn the adulterer.

Or the homosexual.

Or the liar, the cheat, the thief, or the disobedient.

And He doesn’t condemn the condemners.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17…which is the verse after John 3:16...)

The only One who could condemn them -- who could condemn US -- doesn’t.

Why do we?

And what can we do instead?

Love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

The Prodigal Brothers: Judas and Peter

Judas and Peter were with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry. Both witnessed the same miracles and learned the same teaching. Both helped feed the five-thousand, watched Jesus calm the storm, and marveled at His countless healings.

Both betrayed Him, AFTER Jesus Himself told them they would.

Yet one is searing in hell and the other is seated in heaven.

How could that have happened?

Everyone believed that when Messiah came He would free Israel from the shackles of Roman rule. But three years later, when Jesus had yet to talk about even forming an army, many gave up on Him. Judas wasn’t one of them. 

Perhaps Judas thought that by handing Jesus over to His enemies it would force Jesus to go ahead and declare war on Rome. We don’t know, but one thing is certain—it didn’t go the way Judas thought it would. When he realized it he was overcome with sorrow.

Peter, on the other hand, declared his fierce loyalty to Jesus no matter what the status of His Kingdom, even to the point of death. But just a few hours after this bold statement, Peter denied even knowing Him at all.  When Peter realized what he had done, he too was overcome with sorrow.

Judas’ and Peter’s stories share similarities with the parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15). 

The older brother was angry with their father for not behaving in the way he thought he should. Jesus didn’t behave the way Judas thought He should.

The older brother betrayed his father as much as the younger did.  Didn’t the older brother know his father’s heart at all?  Surely both brothers knew their father loved them deeply and was a compassionate man.  Surely both had seen their father’s good, even extravagant, treatment of his servants.  Yet one believed in his father’s love and generosity while the other wouldn’t.

While Judas was sorrowful, we don’t know that he was repentant, although Jesus did forgive him. Perhaps Judas didn’t trust Jesus’ heart in the same way the older brother didn’t trust his father’s heart. 

Peter, like the younger son, repented and gave Jesus a chance to forgive him.  Perhaps Peter felt, as the younger son did, that even if Jesus didn’t reinstate him as an Apostle, at least he could still be a follower.

Is repentance what made all the difference between where Judas and Peter are today?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that even our worst betrayal doesn’t have to be the end of our story. There is forgiveness.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)

It's ALL About Love

Fill in the blank of this famous song:

They will know we are Christians by our ____________.

A) WWJD Bracelets    B) Picket Signs    C) Politics    D) Love

I REALLY hope you know the correct answer is D) Love.  Unfortunately, many Christians show everything BUT love.

Why is this?  What happened to love, to OUR love?  How was it replaced with malice, envy, selfishness, pride, and self-righteousness?  Aren’t we, above all things, supposed to show God’s love to the world?  So why don’t we?   

Here’s what I’ve discovered:

Jesus replied, “‘LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘LOVE your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:37-39)*   LOVE God.  Not obey, not serve, not worship, although those are important, but first and foremost we must LOVE God.

“A new command I give you: LOVE one another.  As I have loved you, so YOU MUST LOVE one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” (John 13:34-35)  Jesus loves us and He loves them, therefore we must love.  Not scold, not judge, not disrespect, not shun, not diminish, not vilify.  Not even serve or tolerate or encourage, although those are important.  Love others.  Just do it.  Period.  It’s not a suggestion, not an option.  It’s a command.  

Paul goes so far as to say: “Do everything in love.^” (1 Cor 16:14)  Not some things, not convenient things, not important things, but EVERY thing.

We are designed to love, to give love and receive love, to love God, to love our fellow man.  We are motivated by love, changed by love, healed by love.  Yet we often don't live it.  

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if we don’t love, if we are not consciously making an effort to speak in love, to think in love, to listen in love, to obey in love, to BE love--first, foremost and above all--then don’t even bother.  We will do more harm than good.  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I am ONLY A RESOUNDING GONG or a CLANGING CYMBAL.   If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE I AM NOTHING.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but DO NOT HAVE LOVE, I GAIN NOTHING.” (1 Cor 13:1-3)  Without love, we are nothing.  Not even very little.  We are nothing without love.

What does love look like?  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.  (Matthew 25:35,36)  Love looks like kindness, caring, nurturing, providing.  It looks like and is sacrifice.  Food costs money.  Nurturing and caring cost vulnerability and compassion.  Providing costs convenience and comfort.  Love costs time and often pain. Is this what our lives, our DAILY lives, look like? 

Whom are we to love?  I tell you, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES and pray for those who persecute you. (Matt 5:44)  It’s easy to love those who love us.  We must love beyond the easy and expected to the difficult and unexpected.  We must love the unlovable.  Period.

Here’s the kicker:  Love is impossible.  It’s impossible because we cannot love enemies and persecutors on our own.  Oh, sure, we can mostly love our spouse and kids pretty well, maybe our families and our friends, but real love, perfect love, true love, is beyond our human capabilities.  Only God can fill our hearts with his love, and He longs to.  I WILL GIVE you a NEW HEART and put a new spirit in you; I WILL REMOVE from you your heart of stone and give you A HEART OF FLESH. (Ezekiel 36:26) 

How do we know if we are living God’s love?  Here’s the Gold Standard Checklist.  Insert your name in the blank:  __________ is patient.  __________ is kind.  _________ does not envy.  __________ does not boast.  __________ is not proud.  __________ does not dishonor others.  __________ is not self-seeking.  __________ is not easily angered.  __________ keeps no record of wrongs.  __________ does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.  __________ always protects.  __________ always trusts.  __________ always hopes.  __________ always perseveres.  __________ never fails.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) 

Ah.  I hear a few Ouches.  I felt some, too.  We all have areas needing improvement.  God can improve us, heal us, help us to love as He loves.  We must let Him. 

My friends, this is a call to arms—to open arms.  To tender hearts.  Now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.   Don’t lie to each other…  Put on your new nature… you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you... Above all, CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH LOVE, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:8-14)

Above all, love each other deeply, because LOVE COVERS OVER a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)  Love not only covers our sins, but theirs as well.  It is the most powerful force in the Universe. 

And if we love as God loves?  What then?  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)  That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

So yes, they will know we are Christians by our love: Our love for the unlovable.  Our love for the sandpaper people we all are (anyone ever rub you the wrong way?).  Our love for the poor, the rich, the victim, the perpetrator, the politically-opposite, the hostile, the abused, the abuser, the friend, the enemy.  Not with our love but with HIS Love, which He will generously give if we but ASK, RECEIVE and then CHOOSE TO GIVE.

It’s a win-win all the way around.  LOVE, my friends.  LOVE.    

*All emphases mine

In The Beginning

One day it hit me that in the Bible, the books of Genesis and John both begin with the phrase, '"In the beginning."  I laid them out side by side, reading back and forth between one and the other.  I though their dialogue was extraordinary.  Let me know what you think.  :)

John 1 NIV   ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

 

Genesis 1, NIV ¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

 

² He was with God in the beginning. 

 

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 

 

³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 

 

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 

 

⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 

 

⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 

 

⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

 

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 

 

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 

 

⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. 

 

⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 

 

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. 

 

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 

 

²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. 

²⁴ And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 

 

¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 

 

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  ²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,    in the image of God he created them;  male and female he created them. 

 

¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 

 

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 

 

12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 

 

²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. 

 

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.