Reading Between the Color Lines

I was reading something in one of the on-line groups I belong to and I was taken aback when I saw a post that started out, “Our guest speaker for today is a black man from…”  I thought to myself, “Why did she have to say he is black, does that matter at all in what he has to say?”  What importance did his color play in his words? If he is a Christian doing God’s work in growing the kingdom, how does his color play a role in that? I guess she got some flack, because later she retracted and said, “Our guest speaker from… (name of the organization).

When my youngest daughter was little, whenever she would meet someone new in school or at the park or wherever, she would always say, “mom this is my white friend or brown friend, or black friend.” Sometimes she would say my Mexican friend or if she didn’t know what they were she would ask them what color they were. Yes, this was embarrassing to say the least. She wasn’t being racist or anything, all she knew was that they were not the same color as she was. I didn’t want my daughter to grow up misunderstanding the racial divide, so I told her, “People are people, God made people in every color under the rainbow, which I should not have said, because she was then looking for red, yellow, and green people.

I myself have said in conversations with others, “this white lady or that black women, or that Mexican or Asian man.” My mother even told me I was prejudice against anything darker than me, to which I denied of course. I was bused to a white school in Junior High where blacks called me an ‘Oreo,’ because I hung out with more whites than blacks, that was hard, not being accepted by others is one thing, but to not be accepted by your own, wow. So being fixed on race has been an issue in my life as well.  

I remember years ago while I was at work talking to a customer on the phone and we were disconnected, when she called back she asked to speak to the colored girl. I laughed, and then asked what color she wanted, we had all kinds working there. Another time race reared its ugly head, I was having lunch with a friend and he didn’t want to eat anywhere there were Hispanic cooks. He was serious, when we got to the restaurant he went in the kitchen to see who was cooking. I thought, “Really.” Anyway, after he dropped me off back at home and left, the Holy Spirit ask me to call him back and ask if he thought there would be Hispanic’s in heaven. I did and he said, as long as they don’t speak Spanish he was okay with it, and as some of you are doing right now, yes, I laughed as well.

The truth is that the levels of color in our skin have to do with the amount of Carotene or Melanin in our DNA. That is what determines our complexion. If you really thing about it all of us are born with what we consider white skin until those two components reach the correct level of pigmentation that God intended. So today I beseech you to start erasing the color line by opening your heart to receive everyone no matter their color. Christians, we have got to remove the color line and start accepting people for who they are no matter what their color, because the change we want to see in the world should begin with the Church and not with the color that is inside the Church. Amen.

Matthew 10:6 say, “Your kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That sounds to me like a ‘promise,’ a ‘command,’ and a ‘praise God one time moment.’ People we have a job to do. We are called to expand the kingdom of God. How do we do that? By accepting each and every person whom God has created, we are truly accepting God. Some even argue concerning the color of God, who cares, He’s God. Will you not accept salvation, because a white man or a black man gave it to you? Really? Heaven is full of people from every walk of life; there is no color, no hatred of color, no violence against color, heaven is one big multi-colored family, waiting for you to enter, eternally.

       

Forgiveness the Rule of Thumb

Mia Charles was four years old when her little sister Stephanie was born. Mia loved her little sister and talked to everyone she met about her. She would take pictures of her to school for show and tell, so everyone could see her baby doll as Mia sometimes called Stephanie. Mia thought she was lucky to have such a cute and funny little sister.

When Stephanie was seven years old she wanted to take Mia’s doll over to a friends to play with, but Mia told her no, that was her special doll their grandmother had given her and she didn't want anyone playing with it not even Stephanie. One day while Mia was out shopping with her mother, Stephanie took the doll out to play anyway. She dropped the doll in the dirt and some little boy kicked it into a hole where some men had been working on the streets. When a man from the crew handed the doll back to Stephanie, it was ruined; she knew she was going to be in big trouble with Mia, but to her surprise, Mia wasn't mad. She told Stephanie, “I love that doll, but I love you more, so I forgive you, she gave her a hug and kiss and that was the end of that.

When Stephanie was thirteen she did the same thing to one of Mia’s favorite dresses. Mia was very upset with her, but she forgave her and let it go. Again when Stephanie was eighteen she took Mia’s car without asking and ran into two parked cars. Over the years Stephanie continued to screw up and Mia would forgive her, Stephanie was her sister and she loved her unconditionally.

Now Stephanie was twenty-five years old and she was having her first baby, she was so happy, she couldn’t believe it. She got married and bought a house just a few weeks before her little baby girl was born. She named her Star Mia Taylor in appreciation for all Mia had done for her over the years.

When Star was three years old, Mia came over for a visit. She stayed for lunch and played with Star for hours. She was so happy to be an Aunt longing to have her own children someday, but for right now Star would have to do. When she was ready to leave she said her goodbyes and headed out the door. She was backing out of the driveway when she heard Stephanie scream a gut retching wheal, causing Mia to slam down on her breaks wondering what happened. Mia got out of the car and ran back up to the house. Stephanie could not speak; she pointed to the driveway and there laid Star bleeding everywhere. Mia ran to her falling to her knees. She was screaming and crying and calling on God. Stephanie ran over and started hitting Mia. She was yelling at her and pushing her away from Star. A neighbor ran over and called for help. The neighbor tried to pull Stephanie off of Mia, but she would not let her go. Stephanie called Mia a murderer; she told Mia, she would never forgive her for killing her child.

Sixteen years has passed and Mia and Stephanie have not spoken since that tragic day. Mia got married without her sister there; she has three children who have never seen their Aunt.  She longs for her sister back, but Stephanie has never forgiven her. Stephanie was diagnosed with stomach Cancer ten years ago and is now living in a Cancer Treatment Center holding on to each day as best she can. She never had any more children and her husband left her seven years after the accident. She has never been the same and has never recovered. She has never forgiven Mia and will go to her grave with an unforgiving heart.

Forgiveness is the Rule of Thumb for the Kingdom of God. When someone wrongs you, no matter what the reason, you must forgive them. Mia lived to forgive her sister, because the love she has for her could never be overshadowed by a mistake, accident, or cause, merited or unmerited. Stephanie on the other hand, did not feel the same way. There are many Scriptures that live in me when it comes to forgiveness, but one sums up the totality of what it means to forgive with all your heart. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others (Colossians 3:13 NLT). 

Knowing the Goodness of God

Have you or someone you know ever blamed God when something bad happens in life?  I’m ashamed to say it, but I have blamed Him more than once. I remember when my grandson died eight years ago; I blamed God. I blamed God when my sister died many years ago. I told God, she was a good person, why did you take her? I have even turned away from God, because I believed He was mean for allowing bad things to happen to good people. I looked at kids who suffered with cancer, or little girls being beaten and molested and wondered why God would let these things happen if He was such a good God. I have done all these things, because I too did not know or understand the goodness of God. A lot of people will give God glory when something good happens, “Oh God, thank you, thank you,” but when the glory fads, they turn around and blame Him when something bad happens, “why God Why? Why did you do this or that?

Well guess what? I have some good news for you today. God is not to blame. God is good, God is love, and God is truth. The true goodness of God is expressed in the loving Man that hung on the cross, Jesus Christ. The key to experiencing God’s goodness is getting to know Him. When you learn about His character and His nature you will begin to see it for yourself.  

A long time ago in the Garden of Eden, man and woman lived in the perfect goodness of God. God created a tree called the ‘Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ He told the man and the woman that lived there not to eat of this one tree. The man and the woman allowed the devil to entice them to disobey God and eat of that tree. They questioned the goodness of God, creating a domino effect that has continued to plague us today. We as their children have the same opportunity to choose between good and evil.

When things bad happen in our lives, we have to look at the role we played in it. If it is something evil that happens to someone that we may feel didn’t deserve it, we have to look at those involved. We also have to look at the devil and his demons, because they play a major role in the corruption, destruction, evil and wickedness in the world. The devil does not want you to experience the goodness of God, because if you come to know and understand God’s goodness, you will no longer serve him, he wants you to experience the same fate as him, death. Believe me, God’s goodness is shown all around us daily, but we are the ones who have to look past ourselves to see it. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing (good) and cursing (evil); therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey his voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days (Deut. 30:19-20a NKJV emphasis mine).

Living in the trust of God

So, how are you at trusting God? I trust Him sometimes and sometimes I trust me. Sometimes I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it, and how I want to do it and not wait on God. I mean, I know God has a plan for me, and I know He knows what’s best, but sometimes I just want to put the plan on hold and live in the moment, you know, like you just want to tell God, “Chill, I got this?” Have you ever felt like that, or do you believe God knows what is best for you in every area of your life? Let me tell you a little story about living in the trust of God.

Timothy Ross was looking for another job, because the one he had was weighing on his heart. He worked in hospice and seeing death all around him was taking its toll. He wanted to work for the County of Los Angeles. He begin praying and seeking the will of God in this situation. After many months of praying and thanking God in advance for what He believed, the County contacted him for testing. He took the test but didn’t pass. A friend, employed with the County told him that he would probably not get the job, but he could try again later. Tim did not let that stop him from praying and believing God. He continued to thank God and went on working his regular job without grumbling or complaining, but trusting. A few weeks later, a friend of a friend who also worked for the County called Tim to discuss an open position in his department that he might be interested in, but there were some conditions. He would be paid less, work fewer hours, and he would be exempt from full benefits. His wife told him to let it go and stay where he was, but despite the opposition from family and friends, one thing led to another and Timothy got the job. Two months later he was promoted to a full-time driver with benefits.

The moral of this story is: When you are trusting God, believing He hears your prayers and will give you what you ask for, you will be victorious in all you do. The Bible says, “You have not because you ask not (James 4:2).” Many of us don’t ask God for help, thinking He is so above us that He doesn’t care. He does, you are His children, and He is your Daddy. He delights in doing for you. The thing is you have to ask with the right motives and with the right heart condition. You have to continue to focus on Him and His plan for you and not on your plans or someone else’s plans. Timothy could have listen to the negative people talking in his ears. He could have let the devil turn him away from his dream by looking for another kind of job, but he trusted God and lived in the belief that what he wanted was going to come to pass. When you are living in the trust of God, conditions or situations can change, getting in the door is the purpose. When you are trusting God the out come may not look exactly like what you see, but in the end it will be the best you have ever seen. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV).

Truth Believing

Sorry for the delay, but the devil is a liar and has been defeated. 
 

Kelly Peters was sitting in Church one Sunday morning looking around at all the smiling faces worshiping and praising God. She had not been to Church in almost thirteen years, since the day she got saved. She sat there thinking about her friend Terry White, who loved God so much. All she ever talked about was God this and God that, Terry told her that if she ever died, she was going to heaven to live with God. Kelly remembered those words on the day Terry died in a terrible car accident. It was after the accident that Kelly went to Church and got saved in remembrance of her friend.

It has been fourteen years since Terry died, but sitting in Church today Kelly saw it like yesterday. She was jolted out of thought when she heard the Pastor begin to speak. “Does everyone have a Bible?” Kelly looked around and many people were holding one up, she did not have one, so she said a silent ‘no’ to herself. Then the Pastor said, “Anyone who does not have a Bible please put your hand up.” Kelly looked to see if any hands went up and then she slowly raised her hand. A few minutes later, the lady next to her handed her a Bible. Kelly smiled and thanked her. Then the Pastor told everyone to turn to the first book and the first verse, Genesis 1:1. “Now read it out loud,” he told them. Everyone in unison read, “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Then the Pastor closed the Bible and said, “Do you believe that, that is the topic of today’s Sermon.”

On the drive home, Kelly kept saying to herself over and over again, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, do you believe that.” She didn’t know if she believed it or not. That night, she lay down in bed repeating it over and over in her head. Soon she thought, “It’s impossible for God to create heaven and earth,” and then she tossed and turned the night away back and forth wresting with that thought, but as she begin to fall deeper to sleep she felt an overwhelming sensation of truth come over her. Then she heard a little whisper, “All things are possible to them that believe.” She fell off to sleep believing everything that she heard God speak to her heart. Today Kelly became a Believer.

Being a Christian starts with whether you truly believe that “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).”or not. For many it may seem impossible to believe that all things came into existence by God creating them, but truly believing it is what makes it possible to believe. Christianity is based on what you believe. If you don’t believe the first verse of the Bible how are you a Christian? The word Christian means: A follower of Christ. How do you follow someone you do not believe in? Lord, help me with any area I may have non-belief.

  

What do You Believe About You

The Part-time Christian is all about believing, so today we are going to explore what you believe about you. Have you ever given any thought to what you actually believe about yourself? I mean about who you really are, or about who you want to be? Do you believe you are living your perfect life, your realistic life? How about your family, what do you believe about your kids, who are they, what will they become? What about your job, do you believe it is the best job for you, do you believe you will be doing the same job for the rest of your life? What do you believe about your looks, your health, and your weight? Do you believe you will live a long life? If you have answered most of these questions with positive answers than you may have a pretty good life, but if you are struggling with them, let’s spend this week pondering them and see what you can do to start living your truth about you today.

Start by taking a good long look at yourself. Look in the mirror and ask what do I believe about me? Then be honest about your answer and write it down. Then ask yourself, what do I believe about the life I live, is it my best life, could it be better, if so what could be better about it? Write it down. Then ask yourself, do I believe I am living God’s best life for me? Be honest with yourself and write it down.

Now some of these are hard to swallow. They can be uplifting or depressing. They can be an eye opener or a real let down. Sometimes seeing the real you is tough, but if you are honest with yourself, it can be a realization. To know what you believe is to understand the realization of the truth of you. When you best understand you, you can begin the process of becoming the best you, you can be.

Some of us spend our whole life in the belief that we are someone or something we are not. I once saw a sign that said, “There is a skinny person inside of me, but the fat person on the outside keeps suppressing her with chocolate.” Now most of us would laugh at that, but there is an overwhelming truth to it. What are your deepest desires? Are you living them or suppressing them? I believe there is a vastly creative world out there, but is suppressed by the day to day rhetoric of life. God has blessed each and every one of use with unique gifts and talents that we are wasting away, because we are afraid to live in them. We are afraid to be our unique self, because of lack of money, lack of desires, lack of trust in God, and lack of realization. That which God has blessed us with can only be done by us, but if we don’t live it, we will fail God, ourselves, and those He has prepared to be blessed by us. That was my realization, but today I am living in my gift and being a blessing to you.

The Journey to Full-time Believing

  They say the first step in recovery or in this case redemption is to first admit you have a problem, well here’s mine. I call myself a Christian and have been one for many years, but I do not always live like one.  I believe in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible, but believing it in my heart and living it in my life are two very different things. The Bible says that a Christians “should be in this world but not of this world,” yet when I look in the mirror, I sometimes see more of the world in me than Christ, my Lord and Savior.

The word Part-time means: A period of time that is less than full-time. The word Christian means: a follower of Christ. Based on these two definitions, I am following Christ less than full-time. That means my heart, my head, and my life, are not always reflecting of a Christian in my every day existence. So, given this recent discovery, I have decided to go on a journey from being a Part-time Christian to become a Full-time Believer.

I asked a few friends to come along with me to help me understand, gain knowledge, and grow in the wisdom of becoming a Full-time Christian, some of them you might know. I asked Evil and his sister Wicked. Envy and her best friend’s Deceit and Conniving want to come. Liar said no, because he knows Truth would be leading the way. Trials and tribulations said they want to come, oh and I can’t forget Trouble he’s coming along too, so is Issues, Circumstances, and Situations they said yes at the last minute. I asked Church, but she said she was busy every Sunday, but I think we will stop by to see her from time to time. Hate and Racism are supposed to come, but they keep fighting over who’s going to sit in the front and back seats. Adultery, Fornication, and Sexual Immorality, well, they say they are coming, but they all have a mind of their own, so I won’t hold my breath. Depression hasn’t answered yet, she said she may be out of place with Love, Joy, Peace, and Kindness going along. Hell doesn’t want to come, because he knows Heaven is coming, but I’m going to force him if I have too. Well these are just a few that I know of and we were wondering if maybe, you would like to come too. The tickets are free and I know Jesus would love to see you, so leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Oh and before I forget, you have to stop by here every Monday for updates and news about our travels, see you next week if you’re coming.