DUPLICITY

Our new school semester is underway. Many of my classes so far have been half empty. Most students should return fully from their semester break next week. I’ve learned in Africa that school starting is laid back, much like the culture.  If you can relax in it, and say chigger yellum (no problem), you can learn to enjoy and take it all in stride.  :-)

One thing I’ve enjoyed so much this past week just back in Addis after a week in South Sudan, is the cooler spring-like temperatures. Some rain has been falling in the evenings and it’s added a freshness to the air that’s been so nice. 

On one of my early evening walks, I again saw two of my favorite little guys playing.  These twin boys always make me smile.  And not just because I’m a twin too. But because it’s shocking and almost funny to see two people, little or big, who look so much alike.

Having a “double” can be so fun. In Sudan, I was amazed yet again at how much my sister and I thought the same, sounded the same, laughed the same.  I remembered how when were growing up, we would tease each other about why God made two of us.  I always said- when God made me (me being the first born)…He thought I was so fine, He had to make another. Ha ha.  My sister would say that God was pretty pleased with His design of me but I needed a few twirks to be right on, so He made her.  Ha ha. 

As I was walking in the evenings this past week and thinking about life overall, the idea of having a double led to more thoughts.

In the USA, we thrive on multi-tasking. We do our best to do a million things at one time, which often leads to us not being fully present in any of them or giving 100% to anything.  I think we often try to duplicate ourselves…be present in many places- have a version of us in different places- which can be exhausting and unhealthy. We duplicate ourselves…and end up being shallow in most environments. 

The other thing we do I think is we maybe try to be “all things to all men”- be present in different environments and different groups of people- but we often become more like the crowd we’re in or the environment than letting our core and character remain unchanged.  Which also can be exhausting…if you’re living with many fake identities. Maybe with one group of friends, you’re a Christian, a strong believer.  In another group, you’re a pagan- looking and sounding like everyone else. In another group, you’re single. In another group, you’re in a committed relationship.  We tend to show different exteriors.  May we be so careful!!!

Duplication is defined this way: 

Duplicity

: contradictory double-ness of thought, speech, or action; especially : the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action; the quality or state of being double or two-fold 

Some synonyms listed of duplication:  cheating; craftiness; crookedness; deceitfulness; dishonesty; fakery

  

Ummmm….definitely don’t like that list of synonyms.  Our lives are being watched. Could any of those words be used to describe me? Us, as the church? Could we be described as crooked, deceitful, dishonest, fake?

I was also thinking about who we may try to imitate or duplicate?  What does your life sound like and look like to others?

Listen to these challenges from scripture:

James 4:7-10

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Ephesians 4:24

put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Deuteronomy 18:9

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there

Hebrews 6:12

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

3 John 1:11

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

If you’re feeling a bit like you’ve become fake or not being fully present any where, or maybe you feel your heart and mind is divided by whatever circumstance, God wants our hearts UNDIVIDED, our lives lived pure and transparent.  

God’s Word has encouragement for us….I’m so thankful God is full of mercy and can help us…

Psalm 86:10-12

For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.  Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.

Ezekiel 11:17-21

“Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’  “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols.  I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.  Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.  But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Jeremiah 24:6-7

My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.  I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Jeremiah 32:36-44

“You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:  I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God.  I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.  I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.  I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.  “This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them.  Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.’  Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”

May we live un-duplicated…with undivided hearts to our God and may we stay true to Him and imitate Him alone!

As we go into this Easter weekend, celebrating our redeemed storyline and that we have life, hope and peace with God because of what Jesus did, may we re-commit ourselves to living authentically with God and others.  

Onward with you!

Praises-Prayer Requests

-Congratulations to my parents who celebrated their 42^nd wedding anniversary on March 26, so grateful for them!

-My Dad continues to do GREAT following his back surgery.  His pain is still very low. Thank you for continuing to pray for him!

-My good friend Debelle’s wife continues to improve in her health, please keep his family in prayer- God’s best for their way ahead.

-Please keep our new school semester in prayer. May this be my greatest semester yet for God!

-Some friends I know are seeking visas to be approved, others are looking for work, please pray God’s hand in all!

-Please pray for wisdom, courage, and good relationship building with students, staff, and neighbors.

-Please pray for my book, that I can find time to finish my draft.

-If any of you would like to join my prayer-financial support team, please email me at: a.in.africa@gmail.com

Have a Blessed Easter as we celebrate together our Risen Savior and King- Jesus!