Even though I absolutely love my job, there are still THOSE customers…the ones that all employees know because of their attitudes..usually for all the wrong reasons!  And while most of us have a different type of annoying customer, such as the talkative ones, or the not-so-good hygenic ones, or the ones with 1,000 kids..there is one type that pushes everyone’s buttons.  That type is the “I am so wealthy/powerful/important ” person that is entitled to every discount and every special order under the sun!!  Those are the ones that REALLY improve my prayer life!

But it’s not just at work.  Entitled people exist everywhere..church, home, in the grocery store, at the baseball field…everywhere.  And they generally make themselves known and can cause resentment and anger at a moment’s notice.  Which brings me to the point if this blog.

I used to be one of those people that got angry or resentful wuth the entitled.  I used to silently hope and pray that one day they would be brought low with all kinds of fire from heaven raining down.  Or at the very least, that they would wind up on my perceived end of things, the land of unentitled.  UNTIL not so long ago, when I was talking about this to the Lord and expressing my opinion of “those people”.  And He reminded me of this verse:  “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to the Lord” (Romans 14:11).

I have known and read that verse for years, and have seen it used in various settings, usually evangelistic.  But this day, God used it to heal me of my wrong attitude!  He reminded me that when that moment comes, I have nothing to fear.  The blood of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection I have accepted and acknowledge, and I know that He is my Lord and Savior, so I can only view that moment as another time of praise for whar HE has done for me.

AND YET.  For those who have NOT accepted Him, this future moment hangs over them as a guillotine, ready to strike them down and their confession will be one if terror and fear as they realize that it is all about to end, and badly for them.

So..what am I saying?  Is everyone who acts entitled not a believer?  And is every blue collar person who doesn’t act that way going to heaven?  Not at all.  However..I now have a much different perspective of the high and mighty acting in my world. Where I once felt anger and resentment, I now feel a genuine compassion!  God is helpinh me look past the present moment with them, and get a bigger picture of who they really are. That picture pushes me not to just put up with them, but now consider them people who will one day bow before the Lord, and pray that they will find Him.  The visualization of that particular person on their knees has had a major impact on me and it now enables me to love them, to minister to them, and to work towards bringing them ALL to the Lord!

So next time you encounter one if “these people”, STOP.  Breathe.  And get that picture in your head.  And then see how God uses you in their lives!  To Him be the glory!

We have two cats.  Louise, who has been with us 13 years, and Tabs, who just came into our lives a few months ago.  Louise has been “queen” of the land since she arrived, and she is not extremely thrilled with Tabs, who is a teenager (according to the vet) and is full of energy, eating ability, and attitude.  He doesn’t hang around fulltime, but he does come for food and loving quite frequently.

Today, I went out the door to the screened in porch to pet Lou.  However, Tabs was still around and came flying in through the cat door to join us on the porch.  Lou was NOT happy that her petting was interrupted by this, and she started growling.  Tabs meanwhile was flipping all around my feet, so I turned my attention to him, petted him, and then he went to see what food might be left in the bowls. I turned back to Lou to pet her, and she growled, then jumped at my arm, and bit me in four places before I could get my arm back!  Normally she is the sweetest cat, and has never come CLOSE to biting.  But today she had apparently had enough, and it was on!

I quickly decided since Tabs was back from the bowls that food would help, and peace was restored.  I went back inside and got the blood stopped from the bites, and all was well.  Later I checked on them and they were both still on the porch, eyeing each other suspiciously. This whole event was completely unexpected, because although Lou had growled a little here and there, they had actually gotten close enough to each other to sniff and lay down beside each other, without any trouble.  We even got Tabs fixed, and he had to stay on the porch for 2 full days with her, and nothing happened.

As I reflected on this later it occurred to me that God had given me an impressive illustration of one of the worst aspects of church too many times, and that is this….many churches seem to be “closed” to newcomers!  They are places where people have been for 100 years, and who don’t really know or understand the process of winning people to the Lord, or gaining new members to help the church operate better and reach more people.  Nor do they seem concerned when the only changes in church membership are due to either death or birth.

Occasionally, however, someone will join one of these churches, full of energy, eager to learn (hungry), and with the attitude that they will be received with open arms.  In other words, they are younger, and still teenagers in their faith, just like Tabs.  And like Lou, the older members will “sniff them out” and even pretend to like them by sometimes “living with” them (worshipping with them) and acting like everything is ok…when all along they are prepared to “pounce” when equal attention is paid to the new ones!  And like today, people can get very hurt (bitten) when that happens.  It’s a very sad story all around, and it does nothing to further the Kingdom or honor our Lord.

Now I have been on all three sides of this…I was a member who used to oppose new ideas, I have been a new member who got bitten, and I am now on the ministry side of trying to help those two groups mingle and become effective together!  ALL of those are hard…and only one out of three is productive.  So I am challenged – and am challenging you – as we all prepare for Sunday tomorrow to stop and reflect on our recent church life, and ask God to show us where we need to make improvements.  God needs the freedom to move in our churches, our pastors need our cooperation, and shepherding a bunch of biting cats is NOT fun!!

She was not a new Christian, but was new to living a life of total obedience to the Lord, because she had not grown much past her salvation.  After living for many years in a sinful situation, she had finally obeyed the Lord and had become active in her church, along with her husband and kids.  There were struggles, but she continued on that path until one day.  One very big, sad, thrilling, awful day.  And that was the day she met him.  Younger, funnier, seemingly more wonderful him.  And slowly her life went off the tracks, and she began dabbling..just a little..with sin.  And no one really noticed. So she dabbled some more, and people began to notice, and she grew defensive.  And hard, and uncaring.  She slowly quit church, and turned a deaf ear to those in her church and circle of friends who tried to bring her back, turn her around, and counseled her that GOD called it sin, and it was wrong.  She continued to not hear, and to cut off those who annoyed her…and she had now come full circle from where she began.

The story above is true..and I am one of the friends that still loves her.  And the result in MY life, and the lives of so many others who also care about her and her family is heartbreak…sorrow…and anguish at the seeds she is sowing, and the future consequences.  You see, one of the biggest lies the enemy tells us is that what we do affects NO ONE else but us.  Biggest lie ever.  And far too many people today believe it..Christians and the lost alike.

So what’s the real truth?  It’s this: sin is sin, it still destroys lives, and it still breaks hearts!  Family, friends, church members, pastors, and ministry leaders are brought to their knees every day by the actions of those in their lives that choose to believe this lie, and their hearts are broken for those they love who are caught in this lie.  Sleepless nights happen and anguished prayers flow from hearts that feel too distraught to continue on.  And ALL of this because one person decided to pursue their own way, and decided everyone else would not notice or would get over it.

So what’s the answer?  It’s more like WHO is the answer!!  It’s GOD, the only one who can bring a straying life back to Himself..and Who can heal the broken hearts left in their wake.  GOD, who was so brokenhearted over the sin of the world that He sent His only Son to the cross to save it.  And Who rose again to complete His victory over the very enemy that lies to us!

How will my friend’s story end?  Only God knows.  But I take comfort in knowing that His heart is also broken, and He is more than capable of bringing her back to Him.  And may He receive ALL the glory for it!

“And how can they call on Him in who they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14

This has always been a favorite verse of mine, so much that we had it used as the main verse (Robert and I) when we were commissioned in 1997 to be missionaries to the Native Americans in Denver. And that’s the context I have usually seen this verse used in, as a “sending out” verse for anyone in evangelistic ministry. But the other day, God gave me a new reason to love it and appreciate it.

A lady came through the drive thru, and I was having difficulty understanding her because she was somewhat hoarse. We made it through the transaction, and as I was handing her the change, I told her that I hoped she felt better and got over her cold soon. She quickly corrected me and told me that she was 3 months past a stroke, and that day was her first day “back out in society” and she was going to work. She was feeling very grateful, and told me as she left, “I never knew what a precious thing the ability to speak is!”

As I thought about that later that day, the Romans verse above came to me and God used it to speak to me about another ability to speak that we currently have in this country….the ability to speak about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are still the most blessed of many Christians in our world. We have the freedom to share the Gospel with people anywhere and everywhere we go, mostly without restriction or fear of reprisal. But as we all know, that freedom is being infringed on a little more every day, and that has caused many believers to begin to fight back to retain our religious freedoms. And fighting back is VERY important…the church has been silent far too long.

However, it seems that in all the battles,speeches, and fighting back, we have forgotten the BEST way…by spreading the good news that Jesus came, died, and rose again, to provide salvation and eternal life for anyone who will believe in Him! Only God can change a heart that is totally against Him, save it, and make it brand new. Only God can bring our country back to Him. AND YET! We have the ability to speak on His behalf! We have the opportunity to be His instruments to win the world, one person at a time. The ability to be used by Him to influence the entire future of our country, by bringing more and more people to Him. But we cannot do it, if we don’t, like my customer, realize the precious privilege that it is and begin to work to regain our voices, and to speak out the truths of the Bible and our Jesus! May God use ALL of us to get that done!

During a recent “pay it forward” chain of cars at work, an incredible thing happened.  At the 5th car, I told the woman the usual about the car in front of her paying for her food, and her face lit up, and she said, “Finally!  It’s my turn!” I asked what she meant and she explained that she “pays ut forward” frequently, and believes God gets all the credit and loves that He uses her.  But she was delighted that it was HER turn to receive, and she did it joyfully!  It was such a blessing to watch her drive off, knowing that God had honored her.

So what’s the big deal?  It’s this principle that too many of us struggle with..being gracious receivers!  We all know and frequently quote “it’s more blessed to give than receive” (acts 20:35) but we very seldom will put away our pride TO receive.  Even in times of need we incorrectly interpret having to receive as a sign of weakness..a failure on our part.  We mistakenly believe that we ALWAYS have to be the giver!

Robert and I had to deal with this early in our marriage.  We were constantly barely making ends meet, but we followed God’s lead and enrolled in seminary anyway, trusting Him to provide.  And He did, and Robert accepted until..God laid it on the heart of a single Mom who was struggling more than us, to take her savings and pay for a semester of our school.  Robert was adamant that she would NOT do that, until he finally realized this major point:  if one is not willing to receive a gift that God directly told someone else to give them, then they are ROBBING the other person of the blessing of giving!!

In other words, if we all want to be blessed as givers, then we’re in trouble!  Someone HAS to receive, or the giving is blocked!  How sad! And GOD is robbed of the glory He receives when He asks someone to give in His name!

So, next time someone is trying to bless you, stop your automatic “no, I can make it” and look at the situation with fresh perspective..you might just find out the only response you need to give is to rejoice and drive off blessed yourself!