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Endless Masks

Laughter can conceal a heavy heart; when the laughter ends, the grief remains. (Proverbs 14:13)


I remember talking to an old youth pastor about wearing masks in ministry. When I told her I was the queen of them, she replied: "Then, I am the princess!" It strikes a chord in me to remember that conversation. I have since found such a true, inner joy that masks are no longer needed as long as I live in God's presence.

But, the past few weeks have been a different story. I sunk back into my old way of life. I started to fall into sin. But, even worse, my inner being started to harden and I started to stray from the joy I has found. I was thrown from God's presence by the circumstances surrounding me, or so I thought. Truthfully, I stepped willingly. But, regardless, I started to put on my old masks. I started to pretend to be happy and pretend to worship. I started to say formal prayers instead of talking to God from my heart.

I have a spiritual mentor who cares enough about me not to let this become a lifestyle. He came up to me and asked what was going on. Because of my trust in Him, I shared my heart. I had tried so hard to cover up the anguish inside, but even when the masks were stripped away, I was still left with my pain. Solomon knew what He was talking about.

This mentor of mine gave me a great suggestion: he told me that the masks didn't cut it-I needed the real thing. In order to achieve that I needed to take the focus off of me and place in on the One on whom it belongs-God. In short, He told me to worship-to express to God just what an awesome and amazing Being He is. My spiritual leader and I spent over three hours today talking and joyfully sharing in the joy that has returned to me. I have thrown away the masks. My circumstances haven't changed, nor has anything else. Anything, that is, except throwing away the masks. No more pretending. No more hiding. From now on only true joy (a happiness not dependent upon circumstances).

Have you been hiding behind long worn-out masks? Have you been settling for a fake happiness rather than true joy? Throw them away today, my friend. The real thing is so much better and worth the effort!

Ownership

Imagine you own a brand-new shiny apple-red Volkswagen Bug. You take it to the local auto mechanic to have some minor repairs done. And while your car is in his possession, he uses it to pick up his kids from school and haul groceries home. You'd probably be a little angry when you came for your car.

Let's suppose your dry cleaner wears your new suit to a fancy dinner he's attending. You happen to see him at the restaurant. He stutters and makes a few excuses, but there really is no excuse! He's wearing the shirt that you own. And he's doing it without your permission!

Try to look at your life in God's hands in the same manner. The gifts, talents, skills and abilities you have were given to you by Him. He actually owns them; He's merely letting you use them for the time being. When you give your life totally to Jesus Christ, you automatically yield your rights to Him. So it's no longer, “My way! My will! My rights!” Your heart's cry becomes, “Your way, Lord. I want Your will. My rights are no longer my own. They belong to You. I don't own my life any more. I am totally Yours.”

So doesn't it make sense that when you're about to decide how to use this opportunity or that talent, that you should seek direction from the Owner? Just as you would want your mechanic to ask you about your car before assuming it's okay to drive, God wants you to seek His guidance for every area of your life.

Think of the prodigal son. The story begins as he approaches his father demanding his rights: “Give me!” The father sadly, gives him what he wants, and the son quickly squanders all he has. In his poverty, the son realizes that when his father owned his rights, he was actually happier than when he had demanded ownership himself. The end of the story shows the son approaching his father with a much different request: “Make me.” Note the attitude change? The son went from a van “Give me!” to a humble request, “Make me.” He asked that his father make him only as a servant. He realized he had given up his rights.

Know It!
If your life truly belongs totally to God, you'll give up your status, your position and your rights.

Read It!
Luke 15:11-32; Galatians 5:1;Galatians 5:7-9; James 4:7-8.

Pray It!
Thank God for loving you so much that He wants to saturate your life with Himself.

Dan the Man

Daniel truly was an incredible young man! Let's focus even more closely on a few special things he had going for him:

1. He had a pure heart. It wasn't easy. Daniel had everything imaginable at his disposal. But he said no to the things that would have broken God's heart, and he said yes to the things of the Lord. It's never easy to say no to things that look enticing and are tempting. But God will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. We can lean on Him to say no to evil.

2. He maintained a godly lifestyle in the midst of a heathen court. You, too, are living in a heathen world. God wants to help you maintain a holy lifestyle even though you're surrounded by people who have no morals and even though you're bombarded with temptation. In the dark world in which you live, God wants to help you shine as a star reflecting His purity and His holiness.

3. He set himself apart. By living a life of integrity, the king took special notice of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar admired Daniel's character and trustworthiness. In fact, Nebuchadnezzar had planned on putting Daniel in a distinguished position of leadership. That's why some of the other captives started the rumors about him; they were jealous.

4. He chose godly friends. Even though Daniel was surrounded by non Christians, he chose to become very close with three other godly young men who shared his faith, his values and his morality. You know those three men as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were Daniel's best friends and they drew strength from one another.

5. He was consistent. Even when the rumors were flying about Daniel's unfaithfulness to the king, he didn't let the lies discourage him from doing what he knew God had called him to do. He simply returned to his knees and maintained a consistent prayer life. When threatened with death, he remained consistent. When threatened by jealousy of those around him, he remained consistent. God desires the same of you!

Know It!
It helps to surround ourselves with people who share our faith and our morals. If you're giving in to temptation, maybe you need to consider changing friends.

Read It!
Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 2:14-16; James 1:13-16; James 3:17-18.

Pray It!
Ask God to help you seek His power when you face temptation. Learn to lean on His mighty power so you can keep from yielding to sin.

My Life

"As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. (Luke 17:12-14)

Now you are probably thinking about how the verse and the title fit together. They go together so well. You see Jesus told the lepers to go and show themselves to the priest. He said this because he wanted the priests to know what God had done for them. How He had touched their lives.

We are a living testimony as well. God commands us just like He has commanded the lepers to go and tell others of Him. The things that have happened in your life, happen for a reason, and God knows why. He has giving you a life that you can use to bless others with.

Share your life when God leads you to. Who knows, maybe what you have experienced God will use it to bring one of His lost sheep to Him. The story of "My Life" is one that should be given to God and shared so that others can benefit from it. Share your life with others when God would have you too.

What a Gift!

Have you ever read the children's book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff? It's an exaggerated tale of what might happen if one actually gave a mouse a cookie. The author tells us if we give the rodent a cookie, he'll want some milk to go with it. And then he'll have to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache. Then he'll notice his hair needs a trim, so he'll probably ask for a pair of scissors. The story goes on and one and on in creative detail of the demands a mouse could make.

After you've read the book for the first time, you'll probably close the cover with a grin on your face and think, Okay. Enough said. The moral of the story is to never ever give a mouse a cookie!

And you'd be exactly right. But what if we took the thought a lot farther? God could have adapted the same moral. He could have said, “Never give any of My children a cookie.” Okay, God didn't really give us a sugar snack, yet He did give us the greatest gift in all the world-His only Son.

If our heavenly Father could give His own flesh and blood, how much more should we be willing to give our lives to those around us! It's not easy, though is it? After all, when we give a mouse of cookie, he'll ask for a glass of milk . . . and a million other things.

When we invest our time and ourselves in people, we can assume they're going to ask for more. If you invite your neighbor to youth group, you may have to let him ride with you. Then you'll have to sit with him because he won't know anyone.

Then after Sunday school, you'll have to walk him into the sanctuary. And after church is over, you'll probably have to take him to dinner. And if he enjoys your church, you'll have to bring him again. And again. And again.

And if he gives his life to the Lord, you might have to disciple him. Or go to Bible study with him. So maybe you should just stay away completely.

Know It!
As silly as it would be for us to take that line of thought, we sometimes fall into that mode of thinking without even realizing it. Subconsciously, we know that investing ourselves in the lives of others is going to take . . . time. And more time. And more time. And do we really want to do that? Guess what! That's not the right question. God calls all of us to give ourselves to those around us. And He set the extreme example by giving Himself to us in the form of His only Son.

Read It!
John 10:17-18; John 13:4-5; 1 Corinthians 13.

Pray It!
Ask God to bring someone to your mind today who needs your love and attention.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Roy Collette and his brother-in-law Larry Kunkel have been exchanging the same pair of pants as a Christmas present for 11 years-and each year the package gets harder to open. Last year the pants came wrapped in a car mashed into a three-foot cube. The trousers are in the glove compartment of a 1974 Gremlin. Now Larry's plotting his revenge-if he can get them out.

It all began when Larry gave Ray a pair of moleskin pants. Larry's mom had given him the trousers when he was a college student. He wore them a few times, but they froze stiff in cold weather, and he didn't like them. So he gave to Ray, who also thought the pants were miserable. He wore them three times, then wrapped them up and gave them back to Larry for Christmas the next year.

The annual friendly exchange continued routinely until Ray twisted the pants, stuffed them into a three-foot- long, one-inch wide tube and gave them back to Larry. The following Christmas, Larry compressed the pants into a seven-inch square, wrapped them with wire and gave the “bale” to Ray. Not to be outdone, the next year, Ray put the pants into a two-foot-square crate filled with stones, nailed it shut, banded it with steel and gave the trusty trousers back to Larry.

The men have agreed to end the caper if the pants are ever damaged, but so far they've been as careful as they have been clever.

Larry had the pants mounted inside an insulated window that had a 20-year guarantee and shipped them to Ray. Ray broke the glass, recovered the trousers, stuffed them into a five-inch coffee can and soldered it shut. The can was put in a five-gallon container filled with concrete and reinforcing rods and give to Larry the following Christmas. Two years ago, Larry installed the pants in a 225-ound homemade steel ashtray made from eight-inch steel casings and etched Ray's name on the side. Ray had some trouble retrieving the treasured trousers, but he succeeded without burning them with a cutting torch.

The Christmas before last, Ray found a 600-pound safe and hauled it to a shipping department. They decorated it with red and green stripes, put the pants inside and welded the safe shut. The safe was then shipped to Larry.

Last December the pants were trucked in the drab green, three-foot cube that was once a car with 95,000 miles on it. A note attached to the 2,000-pound scrunched car advised Ray that the pants were inside the glove compartment.

And this Christmas? Who knows!

Know It!
Someday, those trousers will become damaged, and the men won't be able to exchange the same gift any longer. But as you approach this Christmas, focus on the one gift that will never get old, never wear out and isn't complicated to open. That's the gift of eternal life that Jesus Christ wants to give you for Christmas.

Read It!
Psalm 27:1; Psalm 35:3; Psalm 37:39; Psalm 71:15.

Pray It!
In faith, accept God's precious Christmas gift of eternal life this year. Thank Him for the fact that it will last forever!

Who Qualifies?

Throughout history, God has chosen ordinary people to do His work. He has consistently used men and women with flaws, failures and lack of talent. If we took a closer look at the some of our Bible heroes-as if we were looking at them through a resume and an application to pastor our church-we might have slim pickings.

Noah: Former pastorate of 120 years with not even one convert. He's prone to unrealistic building projects.

Solomon: Excellent preacher, but the church parsonage would never hold all his wives.

John: Claims he's a Baptist, but he doesn't dress like one. He's slept in the outdoors for months on end, has a weird diet and provokes denominational leaders.

Timothy: Too young.

Methuselah: Too old.

Jeremiah: Emotionally unstable. Alarmist. Negative. Always lamenting things. It's been reported that he took a long trip to bury his underwear on the bank of a foreign river.

Joseph: A big thinker and a braggart. He believes in interpreting dreams and has a prison record.

David: Looked promising until it was discovered that he had an affair with his neighbor's wife.

Elijah: Prone to depression. Collapses under pressure.

Elisha: Reported to have lived with a single widow at his former church.

Isaiah: On the fringe. Claims to have seen angels in church. Has trouble with his language.

Peter: Too blue collar. Has a bad temper and has been known to curse. Had a big run-in with Paul in Antioch. Aggressive, but a loose cannon.

Paul: Powerful CEO type of leader and fascinating preacher. However, short on tact, harsh and has been known to preach all night.

If we looked at the above in light of their faults, we'd probably never select any of them for God's work. But isn't it comforting to know that God doesn't look at our faults; He looks at our potential! He doesn't keep count of how many times we've blown it. He sees everything that we can become in His power! God wants to use you. He has chosen you to be on His team. And if you'll let Him have complete control of your life, He'll do extraordinary things with you!

Know It!
Since God overlooks our weaknesses and sees our potential, shouldn't we do the same for others? Instead of focusing your attention on what others have done wrong, ask God to help you see all that they can become.

Read It!
Ephesians 1:19; Ephesians 3:20; Hebrews 10:39; James 1:19-22.

Pray It!
Spend some time thanking God for dreaming big dreams for you-in spite of your humanness.