“Camouflage…” (by Mel McGuire)

In the movie “Jurassic World”, the new villain is a dinosaur called “Indominus Rex”. The word indominus means “untamable”. It is a hybrid animal created from the DNA of a variety of other species, not all of them dinosaurs.

One of the features of this creature is the ability to camouflage itself, and when it demonstrates the trait…bad things happen. No one seemed to know the animal could do that, but part of its DNA came from a cuttlefish.

A cuttlefish (google it), has an extremely fast growth rate, which is why it was used to create the Indominus…but it also has the ability to camouflage itself, as a way of hiding, and to aid in hunting prey.

A tree frog was used in the creation as well. The frog shows great adaptability to extreme climates, a good thing…but it also has the ability to regulate and moderate its own body temperature, which the Indominus used to trick heat sensors and once again, avoid detection.

Finally, they put a GPS chip in the Indominus at a young age…but it removed the chip, at no small cost of pain to itself, to avoid being tracked. This all leads us to church.

Like a garage is built for cars, a church is built for believers. But, just like everything in a garage is NOT a car…everyone in church is not a true believer. Some folks are using camouflage to avoid detection and accountability.

To camouflage simply means to blend in for the purpose of hiding or concealing your presence. Many people come to church and take on the appearance of accelerated growth…they dress right, talk right, look the part… but they are in camouflage.

Whether they do it to avoid detection, or more ominously, to help them hunt prey…many unsuspecting believer has fallen victim to a church going “Indominus”.

When God tells us to be hot or cold, but NOT lukewarm…He may have had these folks in mind. By being lukewarm you blend in…warm enough to be convincing, but cold enough not to commit. Like the Indominus, beware the person who can always manage to avoid detection by heat sensors.

In church, the fervent prayers avail much…true worshipers go “in” during devotion, lovers of the word are “on fire” and excited about the written and spoken word. They stand out and they stand up. Commitment to His presence is a spiritual thermometer. That person you have got your eye on…are they real or in camouflage?

And lastly, beware of folks who refuse to be accountable…to anyone. They do not want to be tracked, followed, known, or understood. They live in fear of having their sin exposed, so they do whatever they can, even if it costs them dearly, to resist being accountable.

These traits are contrary to the nature of God and His kingdom. The Indominus has developed attributes that allow it to hide in plain sight, setting up its prey, or just simply avoiding detection.

Submit yourselves to God and allow Him to have true reign in your life. Test every spirit to see if it is of God or not. God has given us a sound mind, so let the mind of Christ be in you…so you can have sound discernment and can sniff out the Indominus in your midst and in YOUR life.

“Scrabble…” (by Mel McGuire)

 

I like to play the word game Scrabble. I have played since my youth and still enjoy the challenge of making words from the letters available to me, whether on the board or in my “rack”. The more you play, the better you become, assuming you are playing against the right opponent.

Nowadays, technology has made it so easy to go online and play the game at your own skill level. You can win every time (or most of the time), or you can play at a level higher than your current ability in order to learn, usually by being schooled by the computer.

Scrabble players know scrabble words. We know odd, unusual words that may never come up in casual conversation, but can be very valuable in a game of scrabble. We learn two letter words, words with the letters “Q”, “Z”, and “X”, in order to keep our rack clear and refreshed. The point is not only to use the letters, but to use them in a way that returns the most value… at the same time, blocking or limiting the opponent’s ability to score.

Bible readers know bible things. Principles, truths, laws, and promises are given to us in the Word of God. For those who read the bible regularly, they recognize patterns and practices that always return value. Scriptures that deal with prayer, faith, obedience, and giving, for example. Bible readers, like a good Scrabble player, can see things others can’t, and can make moves to keep their “rack” clear and refreshed.

They understand when certain things can be used, to block the enemy, to restrict his progress or success. They know from experience, and from talking about the word with others who “play the game well”. They may not know how the word works; only that it does. It’s like asking me what “Qi” means. I may not know, but in Scrabble, it’s a valuable word, and helps to use the “Q” without a “U”.

Better Scrabble players understand the strategy of the game, and they play defensively in order to keep their opponent from maximizing double and triple word spaces. Better bible readers do the same. They keep themselves out of harm’s way, adjusting their lifestyles and activities to minimize their opponent’s opportunities to do major damage.

A little sacrifice now can save you a bitter defeat in the end. Learn your bible. Use it to make progress towards victory in the spirit, but also to block the schemes of the enemy. Promises, laws, principles, and truths can be as useful and valuable as “blanks” in a Scrabble game. You need to know the word so you can respond to whatever the enemy plays on you.

Too often novice Scrabble players trade in letters because they don’t know the “word” they could have played, giving their opponent an advantage that can be hard to overcome. So too in the spirit, we give up or pass on responding because we do not know the Word. God has a word for you; it’s in the Bible, play to win!