Accepted by God

“Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.”

Romans 14:18

Recently, as many of you may know, I completed a campaign for public office. During a period of 9 months I scoured the neighborhoods of our city looking to achieve the favor of the citizens. This great effort was sure to pay off with the victory that I desired. Then came Election Day.

For most of the day I was at peace and not concerned with the results that were to come that evening. Then as the evening closed I became more and more unsettled. Beginning to feel my mind racing and myself losing control I turned to the only thing I knew to do; I prayed. Yes, when I get all crazy inside I pray. I find that it is the only remedy to what troubles me.

As I wrestled with God (sometimes that is what my prayers are; I hope I am not alone) about this uneasiness He spoke to me and brought me peace.

God asked me why I was anxious (I love His rhetorical questions). I answered that I was hoping to win. He then asked what winning meant (again with the rhetoric). Simply put, winning means the people of my city accepted what I had to offer. He then continued by impressing upon me how I was seeking acceptance of man and had forgotten that I had already received acceptance from my God. EUREKA!

My whole struggle that evening had nothing to do with winning, but everything to do with acceptance. How many of us have fallen into that same hole? It is that great big hole in which we seek man’s acceptance.

Paul writes in the book of Romans that when we serve Christ we are fully accepted by God and therefore approved by men. Think about that for a minute.

While we go around seeking the acceptance of man, doing whatever we can to achieve it, the answer is actually with God. When we leave our desire to be “socially acceptable” at the door and instead embrace our service to God we will achieve what we were seeking for.

On that last day of my campaign I learned the most important lesson of all; only the acceptance of my Savior is needed. He gave me immediate peace that day and I was able to spend the rest of the day relaxed and enjoying the time with family and friends. I was able to know God, and know that He approves of me.

You know what made it even better? I won! That is right I won the election. But then again that is not a surprise. After all the scripture reads that we are “acceptable to God and approved by men.” The victory was certain to come; it was merely His anointing and blessing that followed me wherever I was to go. Today, God wants you to take with you this same lesson. Go in peace, God approves of you, and after all that is all that matters.

Celebrate

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”^[1]

Sometimes as Christians we experience life that is not always the most welcoming. In popular media we may be portrayed as bigots or nonintellectual. To many our faith has become an archaic way of life and to others there has been an all out assault launched against us.

It has come to the point in which it seems that near daily the headlines scream with lawsuits and court decision that outlaw the public acknowledgement of Christ. With every passing year it becomes more and more difficult to find Him in our community.

Churches have become run down buildings that the secular world now uses has ultra hip housing or as museums. The morals we represent are lauded as the principles of generations long lost. The need for salvation is no longer understood, primarily due to the idea that most do not even know what they need to be saved from.

All of this is mounting to attacks on everything Christian; everything Christ like. Jesus warned us of this day. He told us that because the world hated Him that they would also hate us. It is only natural, really.

We, as the faithful, represent a life that many have lost. There is a certain amount of innocence in our acknowledgment of the truth. As we draw nearer to God, He reveals more of the world to us. In turn this knowledge guards us from diving into the darkness and exposing our spirit to the wickedness and emptiness that the world embraces.

I tell you all this today to expose one more truth. The world hates Jesus and by association us, because He possess their greatest desire. He possesses a blessing that fills the gap. He is the answer to all their questions. They, however, refuse to accept Him because they have come to love that gap, that darkness, and struggle in letting it go.

So let us celebrate our freedom. Let us celebrate our Savior. The world may hate us and attack us, and be removing us from their lives, but we are the ones that still possess the answer. Is this arrogant? Possibly, but GOD would have it no other way.

Celebrate loudly and proudly and in this way share your love affair with Christ. If they choose to hate you, then so be it. If they choose to embrace you, then welcome your new brother or sister into the family and celebrate just that much louder. Therefore let us all come together today and celebrate our persecution as a symbol of our freedom

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^[1] The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 (Jn 15:18–19). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Dewdrops

“And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. And GOD saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

Genesis 1:30,31

It has often been commented that at times I can make too much of a dewdrop. Whenever I teach on thanksgiving I like to stress the importance of thanking GOD for each and every thing. This then typically leads to me exaggerating the beauty of dew and thanking GOD for this tiniest of provision. Undoubtedly there is at least one who chuckles and comments on the dew prayer.

But let us stop for one moment. Dew has a purpose. At some point in the circle of life there is a creature that depends on it. In turn that creature is depended on by another, and so on and so on. This continuation along the circle will eventually lead to us. Therefore in a round about way we depend on dew. True, it may not be essential, but we do stand to benefit.

I suppose at this point you are wondering what I am getting at. It is quite simple really. We depend on more than we know. Now this time I really want you to stop. Now think. How many things on any given day do you depend on but take for granted? Now take that number and double it, because I am sure there is a multitude of items and blessings that you do not notice yet you rely upon.

For example do you ever thank GOD for the wind? Without wind we would not experience many atmospheric changes that allow our world to support life. Yet the only time it gets any playtime in our busy heads is when we complain of its nuisance.

We as people live in such a small box. We go around day to day not realizing how many blessings GOD has laid out before us. At the beginning of all time he arranged everything. Everything you see, every action that occurs, He set in motion. Yet we take them all for granted.

In the opening scripture GOD makes two declarations. First He declares that all of these creations are for us. WOW. He created all of this for us. So that we may enjoy them and be happy. So we may know Him through His creation and embrace Him for His provision. All He desires is our love, and for it He created things that man has only begun to understand.

Secondly, He declared that it all was very good. GOD thinks you are good. This is possibly the single greatest message you can take away from this writing or any other for that matter. GOD thinks you are very good, not just good, but very good.

So is it really funny that I thank GOD for dew, or is it just a way to become a little more humble in His awesomeness. What little things have gone unnoticed in your life that you could thank GOD for today? After all He created it just for you, because He finds you to be very good.