Inspiration

Sincere Love vs. Hijacked Faith

Book of Love from Google Images Have you ever gotten fake likes on social media? The ones where someone “likes” your blog post, but when you check the stats you can tell they never read it? Or those “follows” on Twitter from someone promoting their business, CD, or book that go away if you don’t instantly follow back? Or the ones who add you on certain site to boost their own numbers—not because they’re interested in what you have to say? Yeah, it annoys me, too.

Just as there are fake followers on social media, there are insincere followers of the Christian faith. The Bible says that love must be sincere. Unfortunately, there are those who twist the faith for selfish purposes.

From what I’ve heard of the main speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, I agree on this one point…we should never seek to hijack religion for our own personal or political gain. And if we are honest about history, it’s happened in every faith. We need to admit that there are counterfeits of Christianity out there, and these counterfeits have twisted what was meant to be good into a man-made farce. The problem comes in thinking that because counterfeits exist, all must be counterfeit. In truth, having a counterfeit means the real thing’s got to be out there, we just have to take a closer look.

Jesus himself spoke of separating the sheep from the goats. They may look similar from the outside, but at closer glance there are differences. I doubt Jesus meant to pick on the goats, but in a symbolic measure they represent the bad guys—those who claim to follow Christ yet live in selfish ignorance. The sheep are the good guys, representing those who live what they believe in lives of sincere, sacrificial love.

Obviously, those in history who used scripture to justify slavery were the goats of the pack. They were as the evil, hypocritical Pharisees Jesus himself condemned in his day. Yet we must remember that multitudes of escaped slaves and abolitionists were people of a strong, true, and sincere faith (think Frederick Douglass, Harriett Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William and Ellen Craft, Josiah Henson, and Henry “Box” Brown, to name a few). Their Christian faith persevered through great suffering and drove them to fight impossible odds for the freedom of all slaves. They were the real deal.

The end argument is that faith must be sincere, and is evidenced by love in action. Jesus himself admitted there were those who hijacked religion, so why can’t we? The existence of faith-hijackers is evidence there’s something real out there and we need to find it.

I think of how Jesus refused the opportunity to become an earthly king—knowing that loving self-sacrifice, even death on a cross was his calling. So if I’m going to look at what Christianity is all about, I’m not going to look at the hijackers. I’m gonna look at the one whose love was so sincere he was willing to die for the sins of the world.

We may not agree with all that was spoken at the prayer breakfast, but at least this whole thing brings to light that there are sheep and there are goats—counterfeits, and the real thing. As for me, I want to be counted among the sheep. I want my faith to be genuine, and my love to be sincere.

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9)

True Love is…SINCERE (Day 7, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

Stars Without Makeup

Masquerade from Google Images There’s something more captivating about one picture of a star without makeup than all the paparazzi’s red carpet photos combined. What is it that makes the headline “Stars Without Makeup” such a common theme in modern media? It’s the opportunity to see beyond the air-brushed mask of idyllic glamour into the reality of what these stars really are…human.

Sometimes while standing in the checkout line, I catch a glimpse of a de-glammed star photo and something tugs at my heart. Compassion, maybe. I feel for that person behind the mask who lives in a prison of luxury, shackled to the trappings of fame—a slave of the ever-watching world..

If you look closely enough, beyond the smiles on even a glammed-up photo, you’ll see the sadness. The emptiness. The loneliness and disappointment. The toll that stardom has taken on a mere mortal. It’s something reminiscent of the story of King Midas, who in his lust for gold lost all that really mattered to him.

This looking beyond masks applies to us regular folk, too. We all wear masks sometimes. But the trained eye of true love can see beyond.

There was a woman on the run, in the desert, fighting for her life and that of her son. God met her in the desert with a display of tender compassion that nourished her soul and brought her back to life. There, in her deepest place of desperation, she bestowed this name upon her rescuer: “The God who sees.”

He sees into our hearts—our deepest places of darkness, and loves us still—bidding us to discard our masks and come as we are. Empty. Broken. Yet free. True love SEES.

“She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)

True Love…SEES (Day 6, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

The Legacy of Love

Elderly Couple from Google Images My family recently lost a rare, precious gem. Her name was Inang, meaning “mother” in Tagalog—a language of the Philippines. She was one month short of 108 years when she passed away. Today, we celebrate what would have been her birthday.

I met Inang about 23 years ago when she was the youthful age of 84. At first meeting, she looked me up and down with a furrow in her brow and spoke in harsh-sounding tones words I couldn’t understand. When another family member graciously translated, I found she thought I wasn’t the best choice for her grandson. Soon enough, she was sniffing me behind the ear (a traditional Filipino greeting), and slapping me on the back, saying, “Kumain ka! Kumain ka.” (Meaning, “You eat!). I was in, and she became my dear friend.

Fast forward to the present. During the holidays at my in-laws, I was changing an outdated picture of my husband and I for a more recent one. When I took the frame off the wall, Inang grabbed it from me and hugged it to her chest, ranting in her native tongue words I still couldn’t understand. I later found she was afraid I had taken the frame down because I was leaving the family. My response was a warm embrace and the promise to stay. She seemed to believe me when I put our updated picture back on the wall.

If there’s one thing I learned from Inang, it’s endurance. She came from a time when if something is broken, you fix it. In her lifetime, she witnessed the industrial revolution, endured two world wars, and observed countless world-changing events. And love is what brought her to the United States. My sister in-law was gravely ill, and that’s when Inang determined to bring her halfway around the world to get help. Years later, she stood by her teenage grandson to protect him when he was tempted to take his life. Thank God she did, because today I’m blessed with a loving husband, and my kids have a gentle, caring father.

Looking back, I think the reason Inang didn’t like me when she first met me is she wanted to be sure I had the quality of endurance she’d developed over the years. She lived in precious commitment to her beloved husband until his passing many years ago, and she continued in faithful commitment to her family through the years to follow. Inang was known for her tough love, and that’s because life made her that way. Endurance is a rare commodity these days, and that’s why I look back on Inang’s life with great reverence. When I grow up, I want to be like her—someone who endures no matter what, especially when it comes to love.

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Cor 13:7)

True Love…ENDURES (Day 5, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

Holding Out for a Hero

Superhero from Google ImagesConfession. I’m an 80’s child, and I watched Footloose. The original version. More than once. And just tonight it hit me how ironic it is that they would play “Holding Out for a Hero” as the background song for a chicken race with tractors. Note that the “hero” in question wins only because his shoelace is stuck around the gas pedal. And he nearly kills his opponent in the process. Nevertheless, Wren’s crush eventually sees this victory as proof that he is the hero she’s been waiting for all along. Who needs a knight in shining armor when you can get the guy who risks his life for chicken race glory?

The song begs the question…what is a hero? Is it someone who will do foolish, even dangerous, things? Is it someone who can prove himself under pressure? Is it someone who will trample over every obstacle in his way to get what he wants?

True love is heroic. It will sacrifice its very life for the sake of others. As for the guy in the movie, his motives were pretty self-serving. Get the friends, get the girl, get the glory. He tried to overcome peer pressure by succumbing it, which is really pretty wimpy. And it almost cost his life and that of his opponent. Not too heroic.

And since we’re on the theme 50 Shades of Love this month, let me just say this: Christian Grey is a wimp. There, I said it. No, I haven’t read the book or seen the movie, but I don’t live in a cave. I’ve heard the buzz. And I can’t figure out why women are swooning over a guy who would be so un-heroic as to brutally beat a girl while attempting to buy her love in return. The guy’s backstory is no excuse—it’s just there to give the reader some sympathy for a guy who’s truly a villain. No hero would torture his beloved, no matter how tortured his past.

So let me present the truest of true heroes. His name is Jesus, and He gave everything to show his love to the world. He once intervened on behalf of an adulterous woman whom the town was set to execute—rescuing her life and setting her free. His self-proclaimed mission in life was to bring good news to the poor, free prisoners, heal the blind, and empower the oppressed. Though he was innocent of wrongdoing, he suffered and died to win our hearts. Now THAT’S what I call heroic. And THAT’S what I call true love.

True Love…is HEROIC (Day 4, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

A Love that Satisfies
AJ_Hearts

Lonely Heart from Google Images

There was a woman so despised and rejected that she lived in the shadows of her own world. When she needed water from the well, she went only when everyone else was gone. She didn’t want to interact with anyone, because those interactions left her feeling branded, guilty, shameful and worthless.

Most of her life, she searched for love in empty wells—in human relationships destined to run dry. Her source of significance was her beauty and the acceptance of the men she attracted because of it. But it was a trap. After several broken relationships, she had become the scorn of society. And still, she hadn’t found the water she was looking for—the kind of love that could quench her thirst and replenish her soul.

One day at the well, she met a man who knew everything about her, yet loved her with a love that was different from any man she’d met. He wasn’t pursuing her for what she could offer him, and he wasn’t condemning her for what she’d given away to others. This man was offering a love that could transform her completely and eternally, that would change her appetites and restore her dignity.

His name was Jesus. And His love is a well that never runs dry.

We often spend our lives in futility, running after things that only leave us weary and dry. Exhausted from empty pursuits, we collapse before the well meant to quench our thirst. Yet we keep digging, pursuing and laboring in vain—never realizing that our hearts are waiting for love…a love that completes us and satisfies eternally.

God alone can fill that empty void in our hearts. He alone can bring purpose and meaning to our lives. The world may leave us dry, but God’s love is a well springing up to eternal life. When we find it, we find our purpose. We find our healing and our deliverance. We find what we’ve truly been waiting for.

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ ” (John 4:13-14)

True Love…INFINITELY SATISFIES (Day 2, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

(Originally Posted by Jen on the Tears of Joy Blog as “Waiting for Love”)

Love is…SAFE

Romans 13:10 from Google Images Dear, precious child,

Do you know how loved you are? You were specially created for this time in history, to do great things in your generation. You were uniquely designed to love and to be loved with supernatural, self-sacrificing, unfailing love.

My heart grieves for you. I’m burdened because you’ve settled for so much less than what you were made for! Love is so much more than what you know, so much greater than what you’ve seen.

Right now, there is a grave deception battling to turn you away from true love to a counterfeit replica. This imposter tells you that you lack value and worth so much that you deserve to be horribly abused and robbed of your very identity to gain any sense of intimacy. Please, hear this ancient truth: love will never bring you harm. Love is SAFE.

You do not need to be chained and beaten by a sadistic monster to gain true affection. Love does not manipulate you with fairytales of diamonds and penthouses and helicopters. Love does not seduce you with lies only to leave you tortured, broken, and alone. Love ALWAYS PROTECTS.

If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, you CAN walk away. Get out as fast as you can. The chains that bind CAN be broken. It’s better to walk alone than to be bound to a lie that will destroy you in the end.

And, please. Be careful what you see. Be careful what you hear. Lies most often come cloaked in light, poised to lure you in only to leave you blind. Don’t allow yourself to be entertained into the delusion that you are less than what you are.

Sincerely,
Love

True Love…is SAFE (Day One, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

Waiting for Spring

Blog_WinterSpringThe following are words I wrote to a friend who was going through a difficult season where it seemed all signs of life had disappeared. I hope they encourage you, as well—whatever season you’re in…

I’ve been praying for words to encourage you in this challenging season you’re in. Just remember that during the winter, it seems like nothing’s happening. Everything looks dead and barren, cold and empty. But beneath the surface, there’s a lot taking place.The snow is pushing the dead leaves into the ground so they can be used to produce fertile soil. This fertile soil will produce all the beautiful flowers and leaves and green grass for the spring.

We never know exactly when spring is going to come. The groundhog doesn’t determine it, God does! And it always comes, even if it’s late or unexpectedly early. But it always comes after winter. Our temptation is to give up in the winter—to become cold and die right along with it. But if we give up too soon, we’ll miss the spring that’s right around the corner.

Hebrews 6 says to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. A lot of times we have faith to believe, but we need the patience to wait. I experienced so many set-backs and disappointments while waiting to adopt our children. It was a discouraging process, and it seemed the dream would never come to pass. I almost gave up! But now I am holding God’s promises in my arms.

In order for there to be resurrection (spring), there needs to be death (winter). You may feel like your dreams are dead now, but that only means there’s a resurrection coming! All the great men and women of God throughout history had to go through a season of waiting before the dream HE had for them was fulfilled.

Even John the Baptist began to doubt when he was imprisoned, but Jesus told him “blessed is the man who does not stumble on account of me.” In other words, don’t stumble over your own expectations of what God will do and when He will do it. He will always be faithful, even if He doesn’t work as we expect and in the timing we expect.

(Originally posted by Jen on the Tears of Joy Blog as “Encouragement for the Wait”)