CINDERELLA II

Remember the story of Cinderella II?  After the wedding and the honeymoon, the Prince calls Cinderella up from his office and says, "Yo Cindy!  Let's have a picnic!  Pack a lunch and pick me up at the corner of 5th and Vine, and we'll go to yonder lake under yonder tree on the red and white checkered table cloth, and let's have a happy time!"

But, at the picnic, we see that Cindy ain't having much fun.  She is concerned about her hair, concerned about her make-up, concerned about her performance, her words, her gestures, her looks, her selection of cheese, bread, meat and drink - so much so that she is not enjoying the Prince, the sky, the food, the time, the tree, the lake, the drink, her clothes, her health, her marriage, her life, her shoes, the grass, the fresh air, the clouds, her last heart beat, her pain free moments, her ability to breathe, her healthy kidneys, lungs. liver, pancreas, heart or bones.

And, because she is morbidly preoccupied about all of these other things, the Prince isn't having so much fun either.  He is dismayed and perhaps angry at her mentality.

But, ask the question: "Is Cindy concerned about all these things because she does NOT love the Prince?"  The answer is no.  She is concerned about these things BECAUSE she loves the Prince. 

Now, please take a moment to think about how all of this relates to your relationship with the Lord.  Your Lord, the Prince, wants you to enjoy Him, and to enjoy what He has given you, has done for you.  God wants you to have a good time with and in Him.  The Lord does not appreciate when you are grumpy, un-happy, complaining, critical of yourself or others or Him.  Note this difference between being religious and spiritual.

What about repentance?  Well, repent already!  Do 1 John 1:9, and then get on with the relationship!  Receive God's forgiveness and get on with the business of enjoying the Life God wants you to live, the relationship with Him that He wants us to have.  Rejoice evermore - start now!  Amen.

Criticism of others:  We can be too critical of others, judging each other, or others, by a standard, or in such a way that is not good, or constructive or healthy.  There are many of whom we would be critical who are really trying hard.  Many who are so very sincere, are humble, are really trying to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, really trying to find their way.  God sees this, and, for the most part, is not critical.  God really loves you.  And He really loves the person of whom we could be critical.

Self criticism, is often not helpful, either.  Yes, repentance from shortcomings, but, there is a self criticism that is not healthy or helpful.

Look at yourself objectively, from God's perspective:  You are really trying hard to please Him.  You really want to succeed in God.  You are sincere.  The Lord knows this.  There is something to be said for just forgetting about morbid self criticism or the sick criticism of others.  Instead, we might be encouraged to focus on how much God loves us.  How much we love God.  How much the one of whom we could be critical loves the Lord.  How much more healthy it can be for us to just focus on enjoying the Lord, on encouraging each other to just relax and enjoy the Lord, on enjoying what God has given us to richly enjoy.

My Dad used to say, when I would ask him what, or how he was doing, he'd say, "I'm enjoying my EN-joys!"  At other times, when he was discouraged, he would say, "I can't win for losing."  Sometimes I say, "I can't lose, for winning!"

But see, remember that verse, "God has given us all things richly to enjoy!"  But most people are not richly enjoying what God has given us to enjoy.  Most folks are too busy either being grumpy at themselves, at others or even at God - to enjoy their EN-joys.

God commands us to rejoice.  God commands us to be thankful.  God commands us to be happy.  God commands us to not worry.  God commands us to give Him thanks.  God became unhappy with His children for not being happy.  He cursed them for being grumpy, even when, by our standards, they had a right.  Here they were, led by God Himself, into a situation where they had no water.  They, their children and their livestock were without water.

God does not want us to be grumpy.  Grumpy may look cute on a Walt Disney screen, as in Snow White, but he is not cute in the eyes of God.  There are  these three kinds of grumpiness that we are encouraged to consider right now: 1) Grumpiness at others because they are not doing as well as we think they should, 2) grumpiness at ourselves, because we think that we ourselves are not doing what we think we should, and 3) grumpiness at God, because we may think that He is not doing what we think He should.

God commands us to "Be content in whatever state we are in."

God commands us to "Rejoice evermore, and again, to rejoice."

It is difficult to rejoice, and to grumble, at the same time.  It is difficult to be content, and to morbidly introspect, at the same time.Now, I will admit, the word "morbid introspection" is not in the King James Bible.  But "murmuring" is.  And, so, is the command to rejoice, to rejoice ALWAYS!  To be content in WHATEVER state we are in.

Criticism of others, of God, or, even of self, can seriously cripple or interfere with worship, with rejoicing, with being thankful, with enjoying what God has given us.

So much in our theological background interferes with our ability to enjoy much of anything at all.  For, most of our lives, we have been conditioned, even subconsciously to be pre-occupied with performance, results, productivity, out-put, fruitfulness, - instead of focusing on the enjoyment of the game, of life, of relationship.  God knows that the very best performance is the result of relationship.  Relationship with Him,  Sweet relationship with Him.  A loving sweet relaxed wondering relationship with Him always results in the very best performance.  The evaluation Jesus gave on the Mary/Martha deal was not performance, but, relationship.  We often miss the point.  When Jesus said, "Mary has chosen the better part, I do not believe that He was even referring to the work out-put, to performance - but, I believe that He was referring to relationship, to attitude, to mentality, to perspective, to criticism verses enjoyment.  While Martha was concerned "about many things", Mary was enjoying Jesus.  Mary was not concerned about anything.  And God wants us to lay aside our many concerns, criticisms and worries, and instead, to enjoy Him, to love Him, to bask in Him.

You may wonder what will happen to the things about which we can worry, instead.  The wonder is, the miracle is, the work will get done, faster, better as the outflow, the result, inevitably when our spirits are healthy, when our focus is right, when our worship is flowing, when our spirit is sweet, when our criticism is gone, when our grumpiness and complaining is no more.

LEGALISM

Here is a list of things that some people consider to be wrong:

jumping, shouting,

clapping, joy, laughing, dancing,

GENERAL RELIGION: to be other than Amish, Baptist, Catholic, JW., Mormon, Jesus Only, etc.;

speaking in tongues, healing in the atonement,

slain in the spirit, Benny Hin, Oral Roberts,

Jim Bakker, Pat Robertson, work on Sunday,

work on Saturday, play on Sunday, play on Saturday,

any kind of sports on Sunday, automobiles, tractors, etc.,

electricity, running water, caution signs on wagons,

wearing shoes, wearing other than white,

colored automobiles, Christmas, Easter,

birthdays, baptism in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;

infant baptism necessary,

baptism must be in Utah, carrying anything on the head,

baptism without the phrase "for the remission of your sins",

baptism in other than the Name of Yahweh, baptism in other than the Name of Yahshua,

baptism in other than the name Yehoshua, baptism in other than the name Yahua,

not keeping the feasts, keeping the feasts in any place other than Abilene, Texas;

reading anything other than the Bible, reading any thing not religious,

swearing to tell the truth, pledge of allegiance, any kind of pledge or vow, etc.

WOMEN!:  women speaking in the church, women holding any kind of office, pants for women, make-up for women, permanents for ladies' hair, cutting ladies' hair, jewelry, etc.

CLOTHING, ETC.:  neck-ties for men, buttons on clothes,

zippers, brightly colored clothing, mixed swimming,

mustaches for men, beards for men, beards necessary for married men, but without mustaches, jewelry, etc.

ENTERTAINMENT!:  television, videos, movies, rock n roll, dancing,

rap music, laughing, humour, jokes, giggling or guffaw-ing, etc.

FOOD!: pork, shrimp, cat-fish, meat, eggs, dairy products, meat on Friday, sugar, caffeine, white flour, etc.

SEX!: Sex: We will not go into detail here, but if you are married, we recommend that you compare your attitudes towards sex to what the Bible has to say about it.  The Bible only has the following things to say about sex:

1)  Absolutely do NOT have sex with anyone to whom you are not married, either physically, or mentally;

2)  They should always be available sexually to each other;

3)   It also says that married couples should have sex frequently, and,

4)   Have lots of fun!!!

With all of our activities in life, it is a good practice in life to let the Scriptures be the guiding gauge, the PLUMBLINE, the standard by which we live.  In our books we illustrate this by picturing a circle representing the will of  God and the Word of God.  Religious and legalistic people draw the circle tighter than God does.  Of all of the things listed under legalism, not one of them is a restriction indicated in the Bible.  On the other hand, those who are licentious and backslidden tend to make the circle larger than God does.  The key to proper balance is to do the things specifically indicated in the New Testament, and to be led by the Holy Spirit, and then, to rejoice in Jesus.  The whole Bible is important, because the Old Testament gives us an indication of the heart of the Father, and as to how He thinks and feels.

The cure for all of this, and everything else for that matter, is to know three things in order to successfully live the Christian Life, after being born again. 

These are:

1) Know "The King's Greatest Secret!" inside and out.

2) Know "The Throne-Room Mentality".

3) Know "Kingdom Glory".

If you would like to know any more about these topics, please let us know, and we will be glad to share with you.