Salt, Light and Sin

Isaiah 3:9-11 (NASB)

⁹ The expression of their faces bears witness against them,
And they display their sin like Sodom;
They do not even conceal it.
Woe to them!
For they have brought evil on themselves.
¹⁰ Say to the righteous that it will go well with them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
¹¹ Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
For what he deserves will be done to him.

I have been reading in the Prophets over the past month or so, and my single’s group has started a Bible study, and we are starting by studying Revelation. I love the Book of Revelation. I know it has the literal end of the world written in it and we cannot fully understand what it means until we stand before Jesus Christ, but to me, it means I’m going Home. My true, eternal Home. And honestly, I look forward to it.

The verses above strike a chord in me, especially when I look around at the state of the nation and of the world. Sin is abundant. It is thrown in the faces of everyone, and people are PROUD to be living in sin. Homosexuality, abortion activists, divorce, adultery, sloth, greed and so on. These are things we see – daily – and eventually God will answer this arrogance with His vengance.

Ever since the states have passed laws allowing homosexual marriage to be legal, business owners who do not want to cater to this lifestyle are thrown into the news and the media seems to delight in their demise, saying they cannot have their own opinions, and if those opinions are different from the media’s or whoever, then they are bigots, close-minded, anti-whatever or any other labels they can think of. It is especially disheartening to see the word “Christian” said with a sneer, as if a Christian is not allowed to think freely.

In the United States, we are able to think for ourselves, for the moment. There will come a time when we will not be allowed to speak freely against the establishment, but, I digress. That is a discussion for another blog post.

The thing about this state (not literal) we live in is this: Christians MUST take a stand for the things that are right and holy. I cannot comprehend the Christian who claims the name of Christ, but supports a political candidate who is for abortion and homosexual marriage. Both are against God’s Word, so how can a Christian professing Christ support these people? It baffles me. I’m sure there is some logical thought somewhere on this topic, but I have yet to find it.

My other thought is that the further into sin a nation slips, the more God removes His Hand from that nation. I see it constantly in the U.S. - we are no longer a truly prosperous nation.

There is a passage in Psalm that talks about God giving us the desires of our hearts. We have been talking in Bible study about this, but in the way that recognizes the sinful life. If you DESIRE sin, God will give you the desires of your heart… and will ultimately harden your heart to the point where you no longer desire a relationship with Him. Essentially, you are cut off.

I know people like this… I want to believe there is still hope for them, but even after many conversations about Christ, they still refuse Him. I do not know their hearts – only God does. I sincerely hope one day to see them in Heaven, but wonder… it is not for me to decide though. Each individual must find their way to Christ on their own.

What it all boils down to is this: I cannot have enough faith for me and my child. My child must find Christ on his own. I pray for him daily, as well as others, but can only do so much. Each of us is responsible for our faith, but we are also responsible to tell others and live the way Christ tells us in the Bible.

All we can do is be Salt and Light… as Jesus called us to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just As I Am

I get daily emails from Bible Gateway.  I have subscribed to a couple of different devotions and today's 'Standing Strong in the Storm' really hit me. This particular email tells of persecuted Christians and the things they go through for their faith.

I wonder if I would be as strong, as faithful, if it came to that. I like to think that I would.

This one today... A converted Muslim in Egypt led a church of converts, which is illegal. He was caught and thrown into prison, tortured and thrown into a 5x5 box for a month. It was in this box that he was faced with the reality of who he truly was - a horrible person. All of the things he had done wrong kept flashing in front of him.

In this box, he realized that Jesus loved him JUST THE WAY HE WAS.

There are two lessons to learn from this.

1) When we are alone and isolated, the devil will do everything possible to bring us to ruin. He will show is how absolutely terrible we truly are and try to convince us that no one, not even Jesus, could love is because we are so awful. This is just a straight up lie.

2) Jesus LOVES us as we are... Right now. There is no need to "fix" something before coming to Christ. Allow Him to help fix the problem. In spite of all of the things we have done in our lives, Jesus still loves us, right now, for always.

He died for us, so we can live through Him.

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.

Psalm 42:1

 

God's Voice

Psalm 23 (NASB)

23 The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
³ He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 

This morning, in my devotion time, I read Psalm 23. Now, this is a passage I memorized long ago, and it always brings comfort when I read it again, or a portion of it crosses my mind.

This evening, I found this picture on FaceBook and immediately Psalm 23 came to mind! Oh…My…Goodness! I have never seen truer words – except in the Bible, of course. But wow… how much like Psalm 23 are these words of how God’s voice affects our lives?

 

I find the contrast between God’s voice and the deceiver’s voice enlightening. Why? Because I have been through times where I thought I was hearing God’s voice, and in retrospect, those words I heard were obviously the deceiver’s words. Trying to get me to go places (emotionally, mentally, sometimes physically) I was not supposed to go. Those paths were off-limits, as far as God was concerned, yet I allowed the deceiver to influence me for a bit, until I got my feet back under me.

I always find it interesting how God speaks to us. Repetition is one way – if you hear the same message or words more than once, you can most likely say God is trying to tell you something, especially if those words come from God fearing men and women.

Sometimes He speaks through music as well. The Bible, of course. In prayer, but we have to make sure it is not the deceiver we are hearing. Test the words you are given against the Word and the list in the picture.

The deceiver loves to distract us, and make us lose heart and hope… I never thought about the fact that his words make us rush (jump to conclusions???) or push us into something we may not necessarily want to do.

When God doesn’t give us exactly what we think we want – it is because He has a better plan in mind for us and we just have to wait on Him.

How do you hear God's voice?