Professional Liars

By Rosemary Flaaten –

Have you ever been in relationship with someone with whom you were never quite sure if what they said was a true reflection of reality?

The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 4:2 (MSG) warns that “These [professional] liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth.”

What a sad statement that someone can lose their capacity for truth. Over an extended period of time, these professional liars convince not only others but themselves as well that a lie is the truth and that the truth is false. Their understanding and convictions are characterized by mayhem and they no longer know right from wrong.

Do you work or live with someone like this? When they speak, you wonder if they can be trusted. Their character has been shredded by dishonesty. Their word is no longer valuable.  You wonder when you may be sideswiped by their deception. A loss of integrity equates to the loss of a trusting relationship.

But, before we sit too long in the judgement seat, pointing our finger at others, let’s examine our own propensity for dishonesty. Perhaps its having an over-inflated sense of our abilities that has blocked our capacity to see our limitations. Perhaps it’s our tendency to turn a blind eye, ignoring our persistent sins such as overeating, gossip or pride. Maybe its a lingering memory that turns us away from God in shame rather than accepting the truth of His love and forgiveness.

Have we become a professional liar to ourselves?  These patterns may be so ingrained within us that we don’t even realize what has happened to us.  Its like a color-blind person, unable to realize that they are not seeing all the hues in the rainbow.  Identifying truth versus lies in our inner being is something we are unable to do.  We are desperate for God’s illuminating truth to show us the lies we harbor. Only then will we be able to reverse our tendency and become a person of honesty and integrity; a person known for truth.

PRAYER: Lord, show me where I have become blind to deception and may my heart and mind be opened to Your truth.

What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life” (Psalm 51: 6 MSG).

Identity Theft

By Cynthia Ruchti –

It happened on an ordinary afternoon. I made a small purchase at a local specialty store and paid for it with a credit card. Or rather, I tried.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but the charge wouldn’t go through.”

“What do you mean? We can’t have reached our limit. We never have more than a small amount charged to our credit card, and we pay it off completely every month, on time.”

“Sorry. The machine says your card is denied.”

I had other means to pay that day, so I did. When I got home, I called the credit card company.

“Yes,” the customer service rep said, “there’s been suspicious activity on your card. We shut it down. Weren’t you notified?”

Suspicious activity? Someone was using our account number?

“It happens far too frequently,” the customer service rep explained. “We’ll get everything straightened out eventually, but it may take several monthly bills to work through which charges are legitimately yours and which were made fraudulently.”

I understood why people say they feel as if they’ve been violated when someone steals their identity. It was an affront on all counts—financially, a time waste, a headache producer, and what seemed a never ending pattern of confusion as it took many months to sort it all out.

The thieves caused so much grief unrelated to the money. As grateful as we were for a cooperative card company with which to work, I still mourned the time drain and inconvenience.

Identity theft happens every day. And sometimes we hand it over to the thieves.

We forget that we are daughters and sons of the King of kings, and act like paupers instead. We fail to show our “I belong to Him” cards when loneliness threatens. We cower as if we have no power bestowed on us from the Conqueror. We wander in confusion, as if it’s impossible to know where we stand with Christ, even though He’s told us we are His “workmanship,” His handiwork (Ephesians 2:10).

Is that how we act? Or do we allow voices other than the voice of God to steal the identity of who we really are in Him? It’s a mess when that happens…a violation against us. And it can cripple someone not just for a few months of paperwork-straightening, but a lifetime of unnecessary and unwarranted shame and regret.

PRAYER: Lord, help me implement Your plan to guard against spiritual identity theft. Make me wise to what weakens my defenses.

“The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16 – 17 NIV).

Sharing Knowledge with Love

By Rosemary Flaaten –

Envision two ordinary fish swimming side by side, fins gently brushing each other. Suddenly, one of them begins to enlarge, filling its abdominal cavity with water until it becomes four times its normal size. Then, it sprouts poisonous barbs which project into its swimming partner. This ‘puffer fish’ is now a lethal enemy to all it would contact.

Knowledge can have a ‘puffer fish-like’ effect on each of us. As we grow older, developing in our careers and gathering experience, we also grow in knowledge. But do we use this ability to push others away? In our circle of relationships do we flaunt our knowledge to look more important? Do we have a self-inflated importance, diminishing others in our eyes or even deflating them in their own? Our motivation for gaining knowledge and how we use it has the potential for harm. If we increase in knowledge so that we lord it over others, surging in self-importance, knowledge becomes a weapon rather than a helpful tool.

Love, on the other hand, cannot harm. Love is pure, never self-seeking or inflammatory. Love builds up others rather than puffing up ourselves.

Knowledge is not evil, rather it is an essential step towards wisdom. In our jobs, for example, it is necessary to increase our knowledge so that we can become better skilled and more efficient. However, do we combine that increased knowledge with love so that others may succeed as well? Do we use it to help others, building them up and providing a safe learning environment?

The question becomes what do we do with such knowledge? Do we hoard it or flaunt it, or do we share it with love? Being filled with love will never prove to be dangerous. The Apostle Paul summed it up this way: “…to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19 NIV).

Be a fish that is safe to swim with–let your knowledge be puffed up with love.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to add love to my shared learning so that others can be built up.

“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1, NIV).

Wandering No More

By Hally Franz –

The surgery is planned for July 8^th. My daughter was recently diagnosed with strabismus, which is not to be confused with amblyopia. Until a month ago, I hadn’t heard of either one of these vision malfunctions. Rosaline has one eye that wanders (strabismus), but it is not necessarily a lazy eye (amblyopia). Her pediatric ophthalmologist assures us that her eye muscles can be aligned by the planned surgery, improving her vision and appearance.

Actually, I’ve never noticed much issue with the appearance of my daughter’s eyes. She’s Guatemalan-born with almond-shaped eyes framing ebony marbles. The doctor says the ailment would be considerably more noticeable on a Caucasian child, but her facial structure hides it somewhat. Still, it seems I should have been more aware of this; after all, I am her mother.

Rosaline’s doctor held a glass cube to my eye to demonstrate how she currently sees; it seemed like a foggy mess. This procedure is supposed to enable her to see dimension, because currently she has no depth perception. She relies primarily on her left eye, often while her right eye seems to do its own thing. Once the muscles are aligned, she will use both eyes in unison.

I’ve been thinking about how this will impact Roz. She’s fast and agile, though I wonder what athletic abilities may emerge after she can see more thoroughly. She’s been a fair student, but I have to believe that reading must be more difficult now than it soon will be. I am excited for her to discover what she’s been missing.

Often we don’t know what others are experiencing, spiritually speaking. A look into one’s eyes doesn’t always reveal what’s happening in the heart and soul. On the other hand, isn’t it amazing what happens to God’s children once they have experienced the saving grace of Jesus, accepted Him as their savior and been baptized?

When believers see through the lens of faith, life has more meaning, we see things more clearly, and we more fully realize our gifts and talents. Rather than wandering through life, there is purpose. I’m grateful for a doctor who can help my girl see better. I’m grateful for opportunities to reveal Him to those that don’t currently see. How exciting to help others see what they’ve been missing!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, grant me wisdom to recognize when others need to hear about You, courage to share Your message, and inspired words that those not seeing need to hear.

“They said to Him, ‘Lord, that our eyes may be opened.’ So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him” (Matthew 20: 33 – 34 NKJV).

Dash Days

By Elaine James –

My mother’s tombstone reads, “August 4, 1936 – June 13, 2009.”
The birth date and death date are important to remember, but what about the dash days? The dash is the mark between the two dates. Jesus was born and died and those dates are celebrated, but his dash days are very important for us to examine.

We know that God is watching us all the time. He sees all of our dash days. Let your mind grasp the reality of that. Say this statement with me: “All our days are numbered and written in His book” (Psalm 139:16 NIV). If God offered to provide for you, in advance, the day you were going to die, would you want to know that date? Maybe your response to God would be, “No, but I would like to live out my days with your guidance.” Maybe your response would be yes, in which case would you upgrade your availability for your loved ones? Perhaps you would take control of your life and if you choose that, then Christ died in vain.

I had an aunt who faced many challenges in life dealing with a severely retarded son and the loss of her husband at a very young age. Her faith helped her to realize that being happy didn’t mean she wouldn’t have problems. It just meant that she chose to be happy anyway. My memory of her singing, joking and always smiling is forever written in my heart. The absence of good destroys us, yet God promises good will come out of things for those who love Him.

The key to fighting for these dash days is summed up in one little word: rest. Think about it. If your children are hungry, sleep deprived or on overload, what is their response to life like? My kids can get pretty ornery.
When Jesus says that he wants to give us rest for our souls, he also states in Matthew 11:29 to “take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart.”

When someone suggests that you get some rest, try to take Jesus’ advice for rest which is “learn from me.” Jesus taught with the attribute of being gentle and humble in heart. Attributes are our evidence of abiding with Christ.

Don’t dash through your life or it will become a blur. Rest, slow down and enjoy your dash days.

PRAYER: Father in heaven you are gentle and humble in heart I want to learn from you. Give me the fight to learn and rest. Thank you for all my dash days.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29 NIV).

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