“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” – G. K. Chesterton; Chapter 5 of What’s Wrong With the World, 1910
If you ever have a moment or two, go Google G.K. Chesterton. He was one of the best writers of the 20th century and you will find that most, if not everything that he wrote, can be applied as much now as it was then.
I chose this quote to write on because it rings so true.
Many people study religion. Many people spend a lifetime gathering information and facts. Yet, I think it would amaze us how few of those people actually learned something and where sincerely changed by what they learned.
Everyone is our culture has something to say about everything.....from what clothes we should or should not wear, to who should be the next president. No one is shy in sharing their opinions. We live in a very bold and opinionated time.
Even still, we hear so little about this Deity that so many people call God. Sure, there are many murmurs about Jesus being a good man and living a good life. When I hear those murmurs, I just shake my head.
I believe C.S. Lewis worded it best:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say.
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.
You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
See, none of us can make the claim that Christ was merely a good teacher; it is not logical or practical! Even if it was, the Christian ideals are not based off good teachings.
In our culture, people like compliments. They like to hear what sounds good and what makes them feel good. Dear one, when you read through the Bible, it is going to hurt. Truth cuts through the fluff and stuff and gets right to the point. People say the Bible has gone out of style, but the truth is that the Bible hasn't gone out of style, it just doesn't give us warm fuzzies when we read it because it shows us where we fall short and are in desperate need of grace.
Following Christ, being changed from the inside out, and understanding your daily need for a Savior is painful. It is not easy. I like easy and I like comfortable, but following Christ is neither of those.
When people hit something new or difficult, their instinct is to give up or sit down before things get worse. That isn't how following Christ works. Anyone who has become someone of character has had to persevere through something.
Dear one, our God is not so small that we cannot test Him or question Him. Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!"
God desires for us to have all the blessings that He has to offer, which are too many for human minds to fathom, but first we have to take a leap of faith; we have to dig into God's Word and ask the hard questions.
Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? More than mere words can say.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Standing for Truth
***Disclaimer: Not for the faint of heart. God's truth is about to get said and the hard questions are going to be asked. Read at your own discretion.***
My heart is heavy this week. I look around my world and my heart feels broken over the sin I see.
Homosexuality is on the rise. My first elementary school crush and another good friend that I grew up with are now saying they are gay. They have relationships with their own gender.
The Boy Scouts of America ruled this summer to allow gay leaders into their organization and as a result, most of my family is leaving Boy Scouting. By the end of the year the Cub Scout Troop and Boy Scout Troop that I have grown up around will cease to exist.
Trans-genders are on the rise as well. A dear sweet boy that I have known from birth now comes to our bus stop (which meets right outside our house), dressed as a girl. He is only 9.
People I care for are in "casual" and sexual dating relationships. They have sex and break up. Then they wonder why their hearts are so messed up.
Friends of mine get high and drunk just for the thrill of it and do stupid things that put me to shame to even think about. They think their actions don't effect anyone but they definitely do!
Is nothing sacred anymore? I just want to cry and scream. Our world, in an attempt to please themselves have traded the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:25). Why do people do this?! Do you not understand that God's ways are best? Do you not understand that this will only lead to pain and disaster?
What used to be barely shared behind closed doors is now shouted from the rooftops. People try throwing words like "equality" and phrases like, "I can do what I want" around in an attempt to make everything acceptable.
People try to put their own spin on the Bible and sit back with fear of offending someone instead of speaking truth. How timid we have become in the things that matter!
I am all for love and peace, but sitting down when wrong is done is not the way to accomplish that. Just because we close our eyes to something does not mean it will go away! Evil is not made good just because we say or feel it should be so!
Ephesians 4:14-15 words it perfectly, "Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church."
How dare we stay silent and sit by when blatant evil is done and still call ourselves followers of Christ! When you love someone, you speak truth. They certainly don't have to listen, but you can definitely do your part.
Dear ones...if we do not put our stand based on God's Word and do not waver even in the face of opposition, then we look just like the world!
I cannot control the actions of others, but I will not sit by in fear. This is our time to shine brightest because the world is becoming increasingly darker! Will we choose to stand for truth? Will we choose to stand on the Word of God? Will we be bold?
Alone, I am powerless, but with Christ, I am made bold and fearless. "The LORD is my light and my salvation--so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?" Psalm 27:1 Choose to stand for truth!
I will leave you with another passage from Ephesians 4:17-30
"With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
My heart is heavy this week. I look around my world and my heart feels broken over the sin I see.
Homosexuality is on the rise. My first elementary school crush and another good friend that I grew up with are now saying they are gay. They have relationships with their own gender.
The Boy Scouts of America ruled this summer to allow gay leaders into their organization and as a result, most of my family is leaving Boy Scouting. By the end of the year the Cub Scout Troop and Boy Scout Troop that I have grown up around will cease to exist.
Trans-genders are on the rise as well. A dear sweet boy that I have known from birth now comes to our bus stop (which meets right outside our house), dressed as a girl. He is only 9.
People I care for are in "casual" and sexual dating relationships. They have sex and break up. Then they wonder why their hearts are so messed up.
Friends of mine get high and drunk just for the thrill of it and do stupid things that put me to shame to even think about. They think their actions don't effect anyone but they definitely do!
Is nothing sacred anymore? I just want to cry and scream. Our world, in an attempt to please themselves have traded the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:25). Why do people do this?! Do you not understand that God's ways are best? Do you not understand that this will only lead to pain and disaster?
What used to be barely shared behind closed doors is now shouted from the rooftops. People try throwing words like "equality" and phrases like, "I can do what I want" around in an attempt to make everything acceptable.
People try to put their own spin on the Bible and sit back with fear of offending someone instead of speaking truth. How timid we have become in the things that matter!
I am all for love and peace, but sitting down when wrong is done is not the way to accomplish that. Just because we close our eyes to something does not mean it will go away! Evil is not made good just because we say or feel it should be so!
Ephesians 4:14-15 words it perfectly, "Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church."
How dare we stay silent and sit by when blatant evil is done and still call ourselves followers of Christ! When you love someone, you speak truth. They certainly don't have to listen, but you can definitely do your part.
Dear ones...if we do not put our stand based on God's Word and do not waver even in the face of opposition, then we look just like the world!
I cannot control the actions of others, but I will not sit by in fear. This is our time to shine brightest because the world is becoming increasingly darker! Will we choose to stand for truth? Will we choose to stand on the Word of God? Will we be bold?
Alone, I am powerless, but with Christ, I am made bold and fearless. "The LORD is my light and my salvation--so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?" Psalm 27:1 Choose to stand for truth!
I will leave you with another passage from Ephesians 4:17-30
"With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption."
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