First Read Luke 11:14-28
"Validation" - Clif Chandler
You Are Mine...
Tucked away in the closet, behind the boxes and piles of clothes, my heart finds a quiet place to hide, while my pride trashes the house.
Thirty-second waves of condemnation hit me in the gut. I cringe, smile, then ask for more.
Like a Noh master hiding behind hand-painted masks, I skip down this yellow brick road, stumbling on other people’s words. The sound of their voices echoes in my ears.
I take a pill just to cover up my personality. Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel like I be- long.
A Voice whispers my name but I barely hear it. Pretty words and flattery seem to drown out the truth.
You are mine...
I stare at the reflection in the foggy mirror. Vulnerability wells up in my eyes.
Washing the mask away, I look again.
Reflections
In this passage Christ’s source of power was questioned, but it was not by men that his actions needed to be validated.
Which do you value more, validation of men or validation of God? How has this been evidenced in your life?
Read and meditate on John 15 & 17. What do these chapters say to the validation Jesus received? What strikes you about Jesus’s prayer for his disciples in John 17? How should these passages and his prayer inform our own need for validation?
Turn from your sin and turn your face toward Christ.