Poser 2

I have a good friend that responded to my last Sidelines. He made a very good point. Is a poser a person that just slips up or is he one that "pretends" all the time to be a follower of Jesus? The point is whether the Pharisees and Peter are in the same boat. I don't believe so. I didn't mean that.

There is a tremendous difference between a Peter and a Pharisee. I hope you know the difference. My point about being a poser is that all of us pretend to follow Jesus. It may be a lifestyle or a slip up. But we all do it. There is grace, mercy and forgiveness for the one that steps out in life to follow Jesus and begins to sink because they temporarily takes their eyes off of Jesus, but reach out to him before they go under. But for the Pharisee that just puts on the mask, pretends, live as he wills and not for the Lord, being a poser not a disciple, there is nothing. Only a real, forgiving, subservient heart gets mercy from God. God loves, but he demands repentance - Luke 13:3.

Be real. Don't pretend or be a poser. Love God and each other. God will be proud of us when we do.

Sid

Poser

A poser is someone that pretends that they can do or are a part of something they are not. A poser is a kid with a skateboard that can't ride a skateboard if his life depended on it. A poser is someone that is pretending to text message her friends that she does not have. A poser is a man in a restaurant talking to his family on a cell phone impressing those around him as he discusses a big deal he is working on - with his family. A poser.

There were posers in the Bible - the Pharisees as a whole, King David on a rooftop, Elijah in a cave, Peter as he walked on the water and many, many more. You may call them posers, hypocrites, fakers or straw men, but the result is the same - posers.

God wants authentic people. You won't be perfect. You won't be sinless. You won't be without mistakes. God will take you where you are. But don't pretend. Don't be a poser. Be real - and if you are, then God will be proud to call you his child.

Sid

Salvation

The story has been told of a rice farmer who saved an entire village from destruction. From his hilltop farm he felt the tremor of an earthquake and saw the distant ocean swiftly withdraw from the old shoreline, like some enormous animal crouching back for a leap. He knew that “the leap” would be a TIDAL WAVE. In the valley below, he saw his neighbors working low fields that would soon be flooded. They must run quickly to his hilltop or they would all die. His rice barns were dry as tinder....

So with a torch he set fire to his barns and soon the fire bell started ringing. His neighbors saw the smoke and rushed to help him. Then from their safe perch they saw the tidal wave wash over the fields they had just left. In a flash they knew not only WHO had saved them but WHAT their salvation had cost their benefactor. They later erected a monument to his memory bearing the motto, "He gave us all he had, and gave gladly."

The same words could be said of our heavenly Father and the gift of his one and only Son! It is commendable to share what you have with others. It is unbelievable to give all to save others. That is what God did – accept his mercy and salvation. He gave it all so that we could be saved. Give your life to Him today. If you have already, then live for him the rest of your life.

(story from David Sargent, Living Water, Mobile, AL. David writes an excellent weekly email. You can visit him at http://creekwoodcc.org/. You will be blessed)