Born Into Royalty

In our fascination with the British Royalty, we are connecting with something that we can never achieve or obtain. Isn’t it funny how we are drawn to entertainers and others that are celebrities in this world? We seek what we can never have. We experience celebrity vicariously as if it was us in the limelight.

The recent anticipation of the birth of the third person in succession to the British Throne captured all the headlines for days. It was not just in the headlines, however; but hour after hour of live television coverage of the waiting game. Finally, George Alexander Louis was born to Prince William and Duchess Kate.  We can’t imagine how we could be born into royalty as a Prince that would one day be the King of a great country.

The attention we pay to these types of people and events is sometimes way ahead of our attention to the Royalty of our God that we are and will be a part of forever. In 1 Peter 2:9 we read, “ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…”

We should recognize and seek our part in God’s Royal Priesthood with abandon as we live our lives.  As St. Paul has reminded us, nothing can separate us from Him, except maybe ourselves. While Royalty in this natural world is interesting and full of pomp and circumstance, it cannot compare with the royalty of Our Father, His Son and His Spirit.

Isaiah 33:22 reminds us, “For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us..” That’s the kind of Royalty that is available to all of us. Isaiah 62:3 continues in saying, “ You shall also be a crown of glory In the hand of the Lord, And a royal diadem In the hand of your God.”  Can you imagine that we can be a crown for the Lord, a trusted member of His Royal Priesthood?

In the Revelation to John 17:14 we hear, “They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”  For us, God’s children, it is up to us to accept the gift of light from Him in all aspects of life.  No matter what the circumstances, we are in His light.

Isaiah reveals to us in chapter 60:1 & 19,  “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you…
The sun shall be no more your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon give you light;
but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

We can enjoy the fascinating things of this natural worldly life to a point, but we must never forget our source for all things and the obligations of our gift of royalty from God. Luke reminds us in Chapter 12, verse 48, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required….”  By seeking God in all things we are more powerful and more productive than any worldly royalty.

The worldly royalty and political leaders are gifted just as we are with the ultimate royalty of God.  It is when we or they ignore our Heavenly Father, who is King of kings and Lord of lords that our trouble begins. We all have a responsibility to stand up for God as members of His Royal Court and follow His leadership in helping each other.

We can congratulate each other on our gift of royal priesthood. The question becomes, what are we going to do with it? We are challenged to perform for the Lord, because the virtue of royalty that we have been given, cannot be hidden from each other. Unlike worldly royalty, our God given gift of royalty must be shared.

God the Father & Coach and His Team

In reading quotes from Thomas Merton recently, I was reminded of the simple fact that God is inside of me in my spirit. As my creator, he is intimately with me and interested in me. He loves me as a work that he intentionally created. The "free will" that He gave me upon my creation allows Him to stay on the sideline while I play the game of life.

Like most sideline coaches He runs out on the field sometimes in enthusiasm or dismay. I must learn to understand His joy and His dismay and react properly to both. As He continues to coach me through His Spirit like a worldly coach, I must seek to understand what He envisions for me in the game of my life. For me to reach my potential is important to God, my coach.

He sent His Son to help me know the rules of the life game and the way it should be played. If I ignore the fact that I can't play the game without His coaching, then I am alone and out of my league. There will be no championships. Unlike our worldly coaches, God resides in us and leaving the locker room doesn't separate us from Him. God is a package deal in that He is also our Cheerleader.

God uses those around us to be conduits of His love and grace.  We tend to underestimate our value to each other. We don't think that these folks around us can be of any use in our lives. Many are annoying and opinionated. Many just don't appeal to us and don't seem to have anything in common with us. Even the folks we are drawn to, seem a little superficial and we are afraid to open a deeper relationship with them.

Those who have placed themselves in Christian Community know the blessings received when things go wrong in their lives. God continues to use each of us to bless others when we turn to Him and recognize our role. God does His work, but we have to do our work in order for things to jell.

Christian Community is a means of raising the spiritual experience and connectedness of individuals and groups of individuals. Community is one of the ways of living that helps us in seeking God in our lives, and in so doing allowing God to use each of us to communicate His Love, Grace and Will to His Children.

There's no way out of this life we've been given. We can fight it to the end, but we are children of God. Continued denial that we are His children is a painful way to live life. We are His Eternal Children and if we choose to ignore His Light, we place ourselves in darkness. In order to live our lives in the best way possible no matter the bumps in the road, we must give up our fear of death, enjoy our gift and give thanks for God's Love & Grace. The icing on the cake is the eternal life that is ours with our Father Creator.

We make it such a rough walk as we move away from the innocence of our childhood to the challenges of our natural world adulthood. Trust in God is swallowed up by our egos and our need to be in control. The many false masks of success are all around us and we try to put on our mask, which is demanded by the natural world playwrights.

Trusting in God always wins out over the other options. We are home-schooled by God our Father and as our teacher He will give us our grades. Our goal as His children is to earn grades that are accepted, authorized and accredited by God.

If Dogs & Cats Could Talk

Wouldn’t it be something if scientists could come up with some sort of electronic chip that could be inserted into a dog or cat and broadcast what the animal was thinking. Maybe inserted at the base of the tail since wagging tails seem to be their present way of communication. Dogs and cats observe a lot during their lives, most of which is human behavior. They see us at our best and at our worst.

Oddly enough their present form of communication is a blessing to us. In our empty nest home, my wife and I were encouraged by some friends to get a dog. It had been several years since our last dog died and we hated to go through that again. Since we acquired our new puppy, our lives have been much more enjoyable. It’s been like having a baby in the house again.

Our daughter-in-law had a health issue recently and part of her rehab facility’s treatment was regular visits with a sweet lovable dog. It has really helped her deal with the issues that she’s facing. Surely these animals aren’t angels sent by God, are they? They certainly have an angelic effect on those around them.

We have to wonder if they have souls, but many theologians would tell us no. Maybe like creation is described in Genesis, with man over all the animals, places us on a superior level with God. Dogs can learn to do complicated tricks and acts, like leading the blind or searching for illicit drugs, but reasoning is another story.

Dogs and cats certainly develop knowledge of us as they observe our actions and specifically in the way we treat them.  They seem to understand the negative nature of their master when they are reprimanded and maybe the negativity of their owners and those around them when those humans are in disagreement through argument and anger.

Some say that plants and animals have souls, but not like ours. They believe that a soul is a principle of all life. Human souls however; are rational while animal souls are not. While some theologians say the difference is that Humans are rational because they are spiritual, many times our observations of animals reveal a better spirit than we humans possess. Others say that animals lack a moral sense, but again, they outdo us in morality, or at least don’t consciously know that they do bad things. Maybe there is no dog or cat heaven, but many of them deserve heaven more than many of we humans do.

A biblical comparison of humans and animals makes us think about how much food for nourishment our Lord and Master provides us. In Matthew 15:27 we hear about the Lord-seeking lady: “And she said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Are we that hungry for the Lord?  

Now let’s look at Ecclesiastes 3:19-22, and really get confused: ^“For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.  All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.  Who knows whether the human spirit goes upwards and the spirit of animals goes downwards to the earth?  So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?”

Thinking back on just what a blessing pets can be to us, God knew what He was doing when he gave us animals that have been domesticated. Maybe domesticated is the key word here. Maybe God wants us to be His domesticated children at home with Him. He gave us free will that allows us to make bad choices in life. We can be wild in our living when we don’t seek God.  Maybe animals aren’t perfect.  Wild animals without masters live a different kind of life than do domesticated animals. When Man rejects God’s domestication in His Word, Man becomes wild and without direction. Thank God for His forgiveness.