The Stronghold of Racism!!!

Today's Passage: Psalm 133

Memory Verse: John 4: 9-10

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Blessings, Friends & Lifers! I know Wednesdays are usually set aside for H.U.M.P. Day, but we thought it important to continue with our strongholds series. Our devotional calls our attention to the spirit called "Racism". My earliest experience came when I was in middle school. I became friends with a Caucasion classmate who would always try to get me to come to his house. For some reason, I was never able to accommodate him. Something always got in the way. One day, we wanted to walk downtown after school to get a good spot for the homecoming parade. On the way, he convinced me to stop at his house to grab some snacks. As I sat in his room, I couldn't help but hear my friend in conversation with his parents. "What's he doing here?" his dad asked. My friend answered: "That's my friend Chris, he's cool." My friend's father then said something that shook me to my core. "Don't you ever bring a n____ into my house again"! Of course my friend informed me that I had to leave. I ended up having to walk to the parade alone.

My friends, racism is a spirit. People aren't born racist. It's learned. The devil has taught man to hate each other ever since Jesus uttered the words "you'll know them for the love they show one to another." Now, I don't need to get into a history lesson; we all know the stories. My job here is to expose racism as the spirit it is and shed light on how God feels about it. Romans 10:12 says "there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him." We must understand that the ONLY separation there'll be in heaven is the wheat from the tares and the sheep from the goats. So, if you think Heaven's going to filled with only your race, you're sadly mistaken. As a matter of fact, we'll be in our glorified bodies in Heaven. So we won't be able to tell who was white, black, latino, or whatever before they got there. We'll all look the way God sees us: the same. Remember Jesus' conversation with the woman at the well. Because of the racist undertone of the time, she almost missed an opportunity to meet Jesus. She said "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" How many of us have missed a move of God because an interracial couple walks into our church, or because the Pastor's white/black, or the person next to us is latino? I love the way Jesus told her (paraphrasing) "If you knew who I was, race wouldn't matter to you." The more we get to know Jesus, the more we should understand racism has no place in His body.

Prayer: Father, if I have held onto any mindsets or feelings about any other race, please reveal it and set me free from this day forward. I don't want anything to stop me from moving closer in my relationship to You. Give me the grace to walk in love towards those who may still feel this way, and help me to be part of the generation that is not afraid to tear down racial walls for Your glory. In Jesus' Name, Amen.