VOTD

A Spirit of Rejection – VOTD.11.07.16

Grant to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3

We’ve been talking in recent weeks about Christian kindness and some of the things that make kindness happen; some of the things that hinder it. One of the foundations for any of us practicing kindness is how we see reality around us—and that has a lot to do with how we see ourselves…and how we see God.

Kindness is a weapon in the spirit realm. So when it comes to spiritual warfare, the enemy wants to give us a lens—a way that we see things—that gives the side of evil an advantage. These lenses are not necessarily a just a temptation or an accusation, even though the enemy is good at both. But with a lens, the enemy gives us a way of thinking that envelops us, and a filter through which we see everything else— how we see others, how we see ourselves, how we see God. (more…)

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The Poor in Spirit – VOTD.11.01.16

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
  For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

A reader sent me an interesting quote related to the spirit of entitlement that we’ve been talking about in these meditations. It’s too long to reproduce here, but the sum and substance is this:

The result of being poor in spirit is you get it all…the whole Kingdom. That’s not a reward…it’s the consequence. That suggests there must be a result of NOT being poor in spirit. It, too, is not a punishment…it’s a consequence.

The poor in spirit have access to everything. Being poor in spirit is what enables us to experience repeated “Yes’s” to prayer without it leading us into a spirit of entitlement…without it destroying us. If God blesses us with many “Yes’s” and we’re not poor in spirit, we will not be able to get away from an inner “You owe me, God” mentality no matter how much we cognitively know that it’s wrong to feel that way…no matter how much we know that God is a giving Father who will not withhold any good thing from us (Ps 84:11).

And it gets worse: Without being poor in spirit we will not be able to get away from an inner “I deserve God’s blessing” mentality…no matter how much we know it isn’t true. We know God’s blessings come from His grace (undeserved favor) yet we’re insidiously taking silent credit for God’s blessing us and that attitude is so far from the reality of His grace and mercy that He will not feed it. He won’t feed it because He loves us too much, not too little. (more…)

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An Attitude of Thanksgiving – VOTD.10.31.16

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published (saying that anyone who prays to any “god” except the king would be thrown into the lions’ den), he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Daniel 6:10

As we saw last time, when God tells us to give thanks in everything (Eph 5:20), He is actually prescribing the way for us to position ourselves to receive what He promises us.

Daniel is a great example of this. When he got down on his knees and thanked God he actually released the power of God into his dire situation. He released the favor of God upon himself.

Thankfulness releases blessing. It is an access to anointing God gives us to do great things for Him…to receive great things from Him…and to facilitate the fulfillment of His promises. Just like parenting children, it’s difficult to get into a situation where we’re rewarding an entitlement spirit by giving our children things they don’t appreciate. (more…)

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An Attitude of Entitlement – VOTD.10.25.16

The sacrifice that honors me is a thankful heart. It prepares the way so that I, your God, may show you my power… Psalm 50:23

There’s an old sermon illustration which I’ve enjoyed about two old friends who bumped into each other on the street after not meeting for quite a while. One looked dejected, on the verge of tears. His friend asked, “What’s the matter?” The sad guy answered, “Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me fifty thousand dollars.” “That’s a lot of money,” replied his friend. “Are you sad about your uncle’s death?”

“Well not really, it’s just that two weeks ago a cousin I never even knew died, and left me a hundred thousand free and clear.” “Wow! Sounds like you’ve been really blessed…” “Wait! You don’t understand!” the sad guy interrupted. “Last week my great-aunt passed away and I inherited almost half a million.” Now the friend was really confused. “Then, why are you so bummed out?” The sad guy answered, “This week no one died!”

We are a people that fall easily into an attitude of entitlement. God expects us to be thankful. Not in a circumstance-dependent way, but in a Spirit-induced way. If we are ever to practice kindness effectively, appreciation has got to be foundational.

Something that is often missed today, is that there’s an immense spiritual significance in thankfulness—in refusing to have to nurse and entitlement attitude. As today’s verse states, thankfulness is a significant key to release God’s power…a spirit of heartfelt and mouth-expressed thankfulness is one of the most life-shaping qualities you and I can possess.

Thankfulness releases God’s power. It gives us access to anointing (1 Jn 2:20). That is, it opens the way for us to experience a side of Jesus that we can’t so long as we live in an entitlement mindset. (more…)

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A Culture of Graciousness – VOTD.10.24.16

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14

One of the reasons Christians fail to act kindly is simply because we don’t have the presence of mind in the moment that we might have responded with kindness to put away apathy or rudeness and put on compassion, kindness, etc.

That is, we take people around us for granted. Their wishes, their value are thrown under the bus of our preoccupation with ourselves. That’s an easy thing to do as we race through the day, distracted by so many things, trying to beat the clock, trying to do it all. How can we show Christian kindness when we’re overly tired, bogged down in responsibilities that steal our time and drain us, diverting our attention from other people and their needs? (more…)

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A Culture of Kindness – VOTD.10.17.16

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Frequently, in our program-mindset, we think we have to plan and organize in order to achieve eternal results…so while we mean to be kind, or wish we could, we don’t act kindly because we don’t have the time, energy, whatever to do the monumental things. In other words, we make things overly complex.

Those who’ve followed my meditations know that I often say, “I can’t solve world hunger, but I can solve hunger for one or two.” And it’s because we can’t do it all that we often don’t do anything at all.

The thing is, acts of kindness don’t have to be extraordinary. These acts can be the normal, everyday events with a special twist that shows thoughtfulness—that shows we aren’t taking those we interact with for granted, that shows the people we interact with that they are important to us. No matter how simple or complex, no matter how ordinary or unique we always have the opportunity to show the love of Christ through simple acts of kindness. (more…)

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Lifestyle Kindness (pt 1) – VOTD.10.11.16

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness… Colossians 3:12

Last time we were talking about showing God’s love through the little things. In other words, we were talking about kindness. Kindness is the simple deeds produced from a heart of love. A heart of love results in what I call ‘Lifestyle Kindness’.

Fact is, there are more opportunities to do simple acts of kindness than we can schedule into our lives…and require more energy than we can possibly have. But a lifestyle of kindness doesn’t need to take a lot of extra time and effort to be kind—kindness is part of this person’s fiber. It’s who these people are more than what they do. And the kind acts they do flow out of who they are. (more…)

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Christian Kindness in the Little Things – VOTD.10.10.16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

You have probably heard of the term “servant evangelism.” The term itself is not in the Bible, but the idea is there. Servant evangelism is simply showing the love of God through our own caring and loving actions toward others. Sometimes it’s the person to whom we show kindness to that is blessed—and sometimes they even turn to Jesus. The biblical model, however is that other people see our loving actions toward someone else, and in turn ‘glorify your Father in heaven’.

Jesus carried this one step further when He told us that the way we show His kind of love is by how we treat each other (within the family of God) “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). That “one-another” means people within your own group—within your circle. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with outreach, but that’s not what He’s referring to here. (more…)

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Christian Kindness (Pt 2) – VOTD.10.04.16

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us. Ephesians 4:32-5:2

My group’s admin has a signature block on the bottom of all her emails that includes: “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle – Plato”. That’s a good thing to keep in mind when dealing with difficult people. But it’s not such good advice, however if we find ourselves in difficult circumstances. Just because you or I are having fighting a hard battle doesn’t give us a license to be unkind—and that’s where being tenderhearted comes in.

Almost anyone can be kind when everything is going wonderfully. It takes the tender heart of the Spirit’s transforming fruit to be kind when things aren’t going well…when we face disappointment. When discouragement and hopelessness have us in their grip. When friends have abandoned us, or foes are chortling over our troubles. This calls us to give ourselves over (often) to the Spirit’s transforming power if we’re going to be kind, anyway. (more…)

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