"Take off the Mask" by Chad O

"Take off the mask"

What good is there to be gained by being dishonest with God? How do we ever expect to be transformed into His image if we keep doing the same old thing and we continually cover those things we don't want God to know about?

The account with Abraham and Sarah is a case in point. God visited Abraham one day and told him that his wife Sarah was going to bear him a son. "...now Sarah was listening... [and] laughed to herself as she thought, 'After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?' "

Her laughter didn't last long. It caught in her throat when God overheard it and demanded an explanation. The Bible says, "Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, 'I did not laugh.'..."

What happened? Why was Sarah afraid? The God she knew was humorless. He was hard, and straight, and intolerant, like a stern grandfather or a hanging judge. And like many of us, she thought there was only one way to relate to Him, so she hastily donned her religious face. How we perceive Him affects everything we do -- how we relate to Him in worship and service, how we relate to others, and even how we view ourselves. Christianity is not spending our entire lives in an elaborate masquerade.

Think for a moment and be honest. Are you natural, are you really yourself when you approach God, or do you find yourself reverting to your religious conditioning? Are your prayers conversational or pious? Formal or friendly? Be real with God, not just "right" with God.

"Happiness" by Chad O

I don't know to many people that desire to never be happy. Happiness is something most people are okay with being on a consistent basis. However, if I asked 20 people what true happiness is or to describe happiness, I would probably get 20 different answers.
 
So I decided to Google the word "HAPPINESS"
Dictionary.com says...
1. the quality or state of being happy.
2 good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.
Wikipedia.com describes happiness as..."a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy."

Sounds boring doesn't it? Well, how about this? "HAPPINESS is growth." I've found that to be true in my life. When I'm growing in my relationship with God and being obedient to Him, that is when I've been most content. And that's a good thing to ask God to do for others in prayer. Paul also prayed that the people would keep "growing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10). He knew that everything in life hinged on the health of our relationship with our creator. And he had also learned a valuable lesson as a result of growth in his own relationship with God: CONTENTMENT (Phil. 4:11-12).

"Plug in your Vacuum Cleaner" by Chad O

When Paul prayed, he also asked that people would receive power. He wrote that he wanted them to be "strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that [they] might have great endurance and patience" (Col.1:11). The power he was speaking of was that of God's Holy Spirit.

As Christians, each of us can be powered by the Holy Spirit. If we are to do anything of value, we must have Him as the source of our power. Think of yourself as being similar to a vacuum cleaner in your home. Like us, a vacuum cleaner was created with certain inherent abilities, and it has a specific purpose. but if it's not plugged in and receiving power, it's useless. It depends on another source to make it effective. If you pull the plug, it's worthless.

We're like that. Without the power from our Source, Jesus Christ, we're not effective. We may be able to do some things on our own, but they have no eternal value. When we really understand this, we begin to see ourselves as we really are. We realize that we need and must depend on God.

Stay plugged in today. - Chad O