Author: watchstandpray

239 – Disrespect vs Disdain

Desire for anything allows that thing to control you. Respect is no exception. Drop and abandon all and any cultures, gestures, customs, rituals, signs—any method of “respect” that you revere. If a motion, word, or hand signal means something “offensive”, eradicate such concern from your mentality and concern. Don’t use any custom to offend others and don’t recognize any custom as offensive to you.

Choose which battle you plan to fight. Will you play the game of “expecting respect” or will you “win”? Will you ask everyone to pretend that you don’t need to learn or will you ditch your pride so you can learn from everyone? Will you seek recognition or will you recognize what you seek? Will you lay down and cry when your rights get snubbed or will you lay down and snub your right to cry?

Respect yourself always, but remember that self-respect includes not caring about respect returned to you. Respectable people know that respect is to be given, not sought. There is a difference between someone who makes disrespectful gestures toward others and someone who genuinely disdains others. Respectable people know the difference. Disdain is the problem.

A person who makes disrespectful gestures is no threat. There is no reason to confront or “keep pride” merely because someone smacks your face or challenges your turf.

However, people who harbor disdain will often outwardly display a perfect choreography of “respectful” gestures. Their disdain surfaces when it’s time to trust other people’s testimony, give others the space to make their own decisions, behave as if accomplished people are competent people, and remain silently seated while other people handle their own affairs. People who harbor disdain will make autocratic demands or toss out provocative taunts. They genuinely believe that they are better than others and if you slight their great honor, they will throw a tantrum like a brat.

“If you’re so good, why don’t you do it already?” is a taunt. “Just do it and don’t care what other people think,” is an encouragement. Notice the difference.

Don’t fear those with disdain, but beware of who they truly are, don’t become what they are, and by no means covet them.

238 – Exclusive Respect

All dogs might go to Heaven, but humans ain’t dogs. Prayer works powerfully on the condition that it is requested to Jesus as the one and only. Jesus does not ask that Christians squabble and contend with others over matters of faith and doctrine, but he does not accept being confused with the devil either.

One dangerous lie in the spineless blog of “unificationism” is the argument that bringing up the devil is the source of evil. That itself is a lie from the devil since the devil’s second greatest achievement is to convince humanity that he doesn’t exist; his greatest accomplishment is convincing humanity that he is the Jesus of Sunday Morning. If people believe that their worship of the devil is actually worship of Jesus, then wicked men can sleep at night and those who hate the devil’s deed will misplace the blame on Jesus. The devil exists and lurks. Avoiding him or denying his very evident existence does no service.

Wickedness, like gentlemen’s disagreements, must be accounted for, never dwelt on. Identify the devil, then forget about him. Decent people are able to disagree without becoming unfriendly. People who claim that “all religions are the same” do so to mask their immature inability to be respectable in differences. Jesus taught to know the truth and to love all people. Christianity is able to recognize Jesus as the one and only mediator between God and man while not needing to fight others. Needing agreement in order to get along is a sign that someone desperately needs Jesus.

Never encourage anyone to believe both Jesus and another religion. Doing so will not make two friends, but two enemies.

Jesus is the exclusive Christ because he alone is the Son, the Word made flesh, sacrificing himself to open the way. His message is repentance toward hope based on knowable truth.

The “tolerance” movement that demands so-called “acceptance” of everyone will harshly reject anyone who doesn’t define tolerance on their terms. This is their proof of a self-contradicting worldview. Don’t take the passive-aggressive little comments that “everyone is right” because those comments will quickly turn hostile-aggressive. Jesus path of truth and love is the higher perspective.

237 – Lovingly Navigate Verbal Conflict

Avoiding fights requires keen skill.

“I don’t need you,” is a sales posture. Reply, “Good, I will stay out of your way.” If someone adds, “…But, I want you…” Reply, “Is it a good want? You know, wants and needs…” Being literal makes you impervious to passive aggression and posturing.

If someone is emotional and adamant, just agree with everything, no buts or arguments; be supportive. “I just don’t want any part of that!” he emotionally explodes. Reply, “Then don’t be involved. You don’t need to.” If he says, “This is very bad and wrong!” Say, “You’re right, it is very bad and wrong!” This will address every possible scenario.

If someone uses emotional theater to manipulate, he will get no traction from a mirror. If he has real emotional or mental problems, then you will not seem to be an enemy for him to devour as his hostile prey. It is not for you to solve emotional-mental problems of people who do not solicit your help as their licensed therapist.

If someone merely needs validation to get help growing up, then you will give it simply by agreeing, no matter how elementary life observations are. This helps many people mature faster. It happens all throughout people’s lives. It is especially a problem between parents and children, mentors and pupils, supervisors and employees.

Speak in turn, never beg to make your point. People who need to make a point need something and conflict is no place to be needy. Identify the bait and ignore it.

When someone asks you an unsettling and strangely-worded question—especially in “Religionese”—it’s an engineered trap. Answer, “Your wording is strange. Please rephrase that in standard English.” If they can’t, stay on topic, “Sometimes we have trouble expressing ourselves in standard English if we mostly talk to people who think similarly. But, we’ve taken too much time,” and move on to the next part in conversation—now, it’s your turn to ask a question, presumably in standard English. When communication breaks down, restate your own purpose and wait.

When math doesn’t add up, something is hiding—usually greed, immorality, or shame. Note any strangeness; call it out gently and pronto.

Matthew 5:37, Romans 12:9-21

236 – Leading as Teachers

Everyone is at a different learning level, even within the same grade. The duty and responsibility of a teacher is to recognize these differences and accommodate each student.

Not all students are formal. In fact, most of the “students” you will “teach” might never cross your mind as students until decades later, if at all. The person on the street asking for directions, the man at the airport fumbling with his papers because he doesn’t know the system, the young cashier who can’t figure out why you gave $11 when the bill is only $6 and tries to give you the extra dollar bill back before making change .. everyone of these people is your student for the moment. Don’t let them know that you’re their teacher, just be kind and make sure they learn without knowing they did. Act a little dazed, if you must, just make sure they can figure it out.

My grandfather was wonderful at many things, except teaching how to tie shoes. He did it so fast that none of the grandchildren could understand. His sons would laugh while his daughters smiled and demonstrated how its done. He would have made a terrible flight attendant demonstrating pre-flight safety. All teaching material must be graded and understandable.

Everyone must learn everything we know. If you struggle with patience while other people are learning, it could be that you have not continued learning yourself; it could also be that you have not taken enough time to pause and teach others along your journey.

There are three main learning methods; we each have a forte: touch, sight, and sound. Some students need to have “experience” or “mass” in order to understand a concept. Multiplication tables might be easier with groups of legos just as government paperwork might make more sense if it is grouped with paperclips and stacked in order of processing.

Know the levels and styles of learning. Keep an ongoing self-awareness of your own increments of learning. The steps of learning are very, very small. They seem much bigger going through them than looking back. Remember what it was like. When you read about Jesus, remember that he is the best teacher who lived.

235 – Excellence in Craft

The work we do is a reflection of who we are as the Image of God the Creator. In being careful and thoughtful in whatever you make or whatever service you perform, you are demonstrating the good character traits of a Divine Image. Angels will watch what you do in order to understand God; even though they have known Him for thousands of years, they will learn more about Him by watching humans perform tasks with excellence. Even when we are not careful, animals see our craft and know that we do things they never could. When we do whatever we do with excellence and care, we bring justice to the world around us.

No one died because bridges were made too well or because paper held it’s form. While wicked men exploit tools for wickedness, their wickedness would continue without quality work. But, if the bridge holds, then people can cross in safety and we can come to the rescue of people who have no hope. If paper holds its form, messages and ideas can make their ways through the world, helping humanity to understand each other and progress.

When you don’t do a good job, you create cleanup work for others, thus taxing their time when they have done nothing wrong. Such is not the justice of God. Having your work finished properly, well-assembled, robust, and suited for its purpose, other people can focus on their own tasks and needs, having their work been helped by whatever part you finished well.

No matter how insignificant or boring, your work explains God and dispenses justice to everything around you. Work and effort are like a shining light, but traveling through the presence of tools and pathways rather than through photons.

Rightly so, God will judge every one of us for how we perform our work much more than whatever work it is that we do. If you drive a car, drive it with skill, speed, safety, and respect for other drivers on the road. If you clean toilets, minister to every visitor of the lavatory by granting them the cleanliness of Heaven. If you govern, help the efforts of the skilled people you serve.

234 – It Starts In Our Hearts

God puts desires in our hearts. When you feel it, recognize it and pay attention. It can be a calling. It can be a prayer request. It can be a message for a friend or even someone you don’t know. It can be instructions to go somewhere or to teach an idea, which is often called “preaching”.

Spiritual gifts come to us in our hearts, perhaps a knack for administration or extreme people skills. God might give us business or political savvy, again beginning in the heart.

Having a topic in your heart does not make you an expert, however. Preaching starts with a fire in the heart from God and can’t be faked. A Bible preacher once said, “An ongoing preacher without God’s anointing will kill people spiritually.” Just because you have a desire for a job does not mean God wants you in that job right now—or ever at all. Perhaps God wants you to pray for people in that job or study it. A classroom or coach can help us refine some skills, diligence and experience are equally vital, but we must also have both the fire and the calling from God in order to be effective in any line of work.

It all comes back to the heart. In the early years around Jesus’s birth, Mary stored things up in her heart to ponder them. She knew that many people would not be able to have peer-level conversation with her as she saw the small blessings while carrying the Son of God in her womb. At times, we all encounter events in life that others could never identify with. Keeping them in your heart to ponder them with God will open up a universe in your inner self.

Never neglect the heart, but keep it as strong as your outward family, social, and work life. In the day Jesus reigns, God’s Law will be written on our hearts. We won’t need anyone to teach us about God because, ultimately, the fire in the heart from God is and comes from God Himself—to know God to love God. As the Image of God, God will speak to our hearts first.

2 Chronicles 29:10, Psalm 40:8, Luke 2:19, 51, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

233 – Planning, Preparation, Habits & Flexibility

Things in life get done through four main ways: planning, preparation, habit, and the flexibility to live with spontaneity. Habits train our autopilot, governing things we do even without trying. They build skills and knowledge over time, seemingly without effort. Preparation is about meeting prerequisites, being diligent with due diligence, completing the reading before the meeting, and finishing the homework before getting to class. Planning is about scheduling and plotting out times and events.

God governs over us, dominating, ruling, sitting above us, by keeping all these different methods necessary. We must learn all of these different ways of working to have the best in life. Of all these ways to get things done, nothing gets done if it doesn’t happen. Actually doing something—taking initiative, getting off the couch, keeping commitments, steering priorities—the action of “doing” a thing is what delivers its results.

A pastor in Cabrini Green explained this to me, “That lady was supposed to meet me today, but she can’t because she had to go to the store. Going to the store only takes one or two hours. But, in ‘poverty’ mentality, a person doesn’t understand the idea of going to the store and keeping an appointment in the same day. That’s part of what keeps poor people poor.”

Planning and intentionally preparing allow greater and better things to get done. Anyone can write a good story or build a good house. But, an awesome story requires some outlining and probably a backstory for the author’s reference. An excellent house requires excellent structures, skills, and materials—and those things don’t happen by accident. Excellent buildings must be coordinated, which is why construction scheduling is literally an academic study all to itself. Habits keep us working when we don’t think about working. Yet, there are always those moments that come by without warning and, when they do, we must seize the unplanned, one-time opportunity or miss out forever.

Different things get done different ways. But, nothing gets done unless it gets done. Hard work will achieve more than a well-planned calendar full of “excused absences”. The “doing” is the common thread of many types of paths that life opens for us.