SelahV Today

OFFEND ME NOT

"Where there is no offense, there is no effect."  Adrian Rogers

"I came not to this world to bring peace, but a sword."  Jesus.

Basically, Dr. Rogers and Jesus are saying that the Gospel message is gonna divide folks and leave some along the wide road as others head down the narrow way.   Accordingly, to expect that Christian preachers proclaiming the Word will not offend, is ludicrous.  The Holy Spirit will quicken (bring to life) that which is dead in sin.

Ever had your leg go to sleep?  Hands get so cold they were numb?  When circulation returns to your leg, and warmth returns to your hands, there is pain.  When the Gospel penetrates the darkness within us, the Light exposes the depravity of our souls, and we are stricken with heartache and moved to repentance.

Yet, all too often we hear...do not preach this, or teach that, or say this, or say that.  It will offend someone.  I don't think the Lord was too worried about who he was offending when He destroyed Sodom and turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt.  Nor was Jesus too concerned with offending the Pharisees when He cleansed the temple and told them they'd made it into a den of thieves. 

May we all grasp in our hearts the enormity of the need to share the Gospel with boldness, clarity and love.  selahV   

HAVE YOU SEEN FAITH IN ACTION LATELY?

You may have missed this story.  If you're tired of reading negative stories about youth, watching train-wrecks in blogville, and hearing bad news on television.  This story can lift your spirits. 

Senior youth reburbish an elementary school as one of their mission projects for the community. 

Take your mouse for a walk over [HERE] and see what some youth count important in Lawton, Oklahoma.  selahV

WELL, SHUT MY MOUTH

There are times when talking is futile:  When a person has preconceived ideas.  When a person has already made up their minds.  When another is always right.  When a conversation has changed to an argument.  When logic and reason is impossible.  When anger rules the emotions.  When others don't like you.  Each of these are times when it is best to shut one's mouth.

If a discussion is necessary, another time would be best.  If a point is true, it will withstand the assaults of others.  If a person's mind is made up, there's little chance of changing it and it's best to leave everything in the hands of God.

"But I, like a deaf man, hear not; and I am like a dumb man who opens not his mouth.  Yes, I have become like a man who hears not, in whose mouth are not arguments or replies.  For in You, O Lord, do I hope; You will answer, O Lord my God."  Psalm 38:13-15.

It's possible that even I can't hear for the debates in my own mind.  It's possible that the people with whom I want to communicate can't hear me for the same reason.  It's times we are at a complete loss for words.  In these times, I must step back.  Be still.  Pray and wait for God's direction.  And many times it is He who will answer.  Not I.  selahv

[SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008]

VISITORS AT THE DOOR

About a year ago, I had a couple of Mormons knock at my door.  They came back several times, because I encouraged them to return.  They had their message, and I had mine.  They never returned when I shared that only Jesus was the Truth, that I wouldn't accept their message of another prophet or another book other than the Bible as true.

On Tuesday, the doorbell rang and two ladies stood on my porch when I answered the door.  Each held a Bible and one held a couple of periodicals.  The one with the periodicals spoke saying they were in the neighborhood sharing how the times were similar to those written in Matthew 24 and was I interested in discussing them.  She offered her Watchtower magazines and I declined.  But I wished God's blessings upon them.

Today the doorbell rang again, and a man stopped by to share they were having a big meeting at their church this week.  They wanted to know if we were interested in starting a Bible study in our home.  My husband said he wasn't interested--they do not teach the same doctrinal views that we do in the Baptist church.

Tonight our church did follow-up visits to all the hundreds of kids who came to our Vacation Bible School this past week.  Many of these children have no church affiliation whatsoever.  And I'm thinking.

False prophets are out and about giving away literature and seeking to persuade folks to trust teachings that do not reflect the Gospel at all.  Some folks are out knocking on doors to announce Bible classes and hoping to find folks who would like to start Bible-studies in their homes to add to the church numbers by baptism.

It's vital to be going into all the world to share Jesus.  It's vital to send missionaries.  It's vital to be knocking on doors.  And it's vital to have a caring church that reaches out beyond the walls of their buildings to visit and follow-up on people who are interested in knowing more about Jesus.  I'm grateful for my church family.  I'm grateful for the over 100 people who worked in Bible school this week to teach over 400 children who attended.  God is working.  The Spirit is moving.  And so is the prince of this world.  We need to be vigilant.  We need to stand ready to give an answer for what we know about the Bible and the message of Christ's saving grace.

Across our cities and towns, doorbells are ringing.  There are visitors knocking at the door.  But can those who answer the door trust the message of those who stand on the other side?  Only if the visitors carry the right message.  Only if the message is Jesus--the Way, the Truth, and the Life.   selahV

PLOWING UNDER

Florida can't make any money off their tomato crops.  It's not worth it to even harvest them.  So they are plowing them under.  Perfectly good tomatoes.  Not a thing wrong with them.  Somehow that just seems wrong.  They say it is because they can't sell them at a profit.  So, why not let people into the fields to pick them at will?  Why not let folks have them who know how to preserve those delectable red globes for chili, salsa, spaghetti, and pizza sauce?

It reminds me of so many other things we have in life.  If is isn't making ME money, then Lord forbid I give it to someone else who can use it.  When I think of all the hungry folks out there and the fact that I can't ever get tomato plants to produce here in Oklahoma, well, it just rubs me the wrong way to hear of such waste.  It also brings to mind the fact that "fields are white unto harvest" and we lack laborers for the field.  How many lives are being plowed under by the world because of my complacency?  How many are dying on the vine?  selahV

FEELING ALONE...LOST AND DISCOURAGED

Something is missing.  You have everything in the world to make you happy.  But you aren't.  You have a great family, the job of your dreams, a beautiful home, lots of friends.  But something is missing; there's got to be more than this.  OR...

You have nothing, have lost everything, the job, the home, the family, the friends.  You have reached the end of your rope with life--the difficulties, broken relationships, betrayals.  Still, you believe there is just something else you need in your life, something you can't quite name.  You know it is something that can make things better.  You search for this something in all the places the world offers and discover emptiness, temporal pleasures, and lies.  You think there is no hope.  You are wrong.

I have lived in both places.  With and without.  I had everything a person could want.  The American dream.  Yet something was missing.  I searched to no avail.  I even went to churches.  I couldn't find the missing piece.  I made some horrible decisions.  I reached the end of my rope.  Life was a disaster.  I was a disaster.  Then people came into my life that led me to hear about a Person who changed my entire life.  His name is Jesus.  I heard the old story of Him coming to earth to live a sinless life to die upon a cross to save me from my sin.  All my searches for power, success, self-worth, status, value, love--they came up empty.  There was no contentment, no peace, no joy.

"Are you a Christian?"  a pastor asked as he visited me in a hospital.  I squirmed inside; I recalled the day I was seven and was baptized.  I remembered all the things I'd done in my life that were not pleasing to the God I'd learned about as a child.  "I'm not living like one."  We both had the answer.  I wasn't a Christian.  A month later, I stood knowing I needed Jesus who died just for me because He loved me.  I understood a forgiveness I could not comprehend.  He suffered and died on a cross to pay the price for the world's sin.  For my family.  For my friends.  For me, Hariette Petersen.  I wanted that forgiveness.  I wanted the joy I saw on other Christians' faces.  I wanted the peace others displayed in the midst of all their trials and difficulties.  I wanted the hope of eternal life and the security of owning it.  I told this to God.  I thanked Him for sending His son to take away my sin.  I no longer wanted to live unto myself.  My ways were worthless, meaningless.  In my heart, I knew I would not ever be the same.  I knew I was different from the inside out.  It was like walking toward a knock at the door and when I got to the door it opened unto me.  And I walked into the grace of God and never was the same again.  Desires changed.  Habits were broken.  Hunger for His Word could not be satisfied.  I was a new person.  I no longer thought the same way.  I saw things from some other perspective outside myself.  I learned it was God's.

I look back on the woman who met Jesus that day in January and wonder how she could have lived the way she did.  Yet, I understand that it was because she did not know Jesus.  Her life was to live for herself--and unknowingly, for the devil himself.  She'd lived a life deceived by all that glittered but was not gold.  She'd sought love in all the wrong places and never found it anywhere.  Then Jesus poured out Himself to her, and I became the me I am today.  Loving God.  Knowing that Jesus will keep me in this world and in eternity with Him when I die.  I will not receive the punishment I deserve for all my godlessness.  Jesus re-created me in His righteousness and He sits in Heaven interceding on my behalf, telling the Father that I am His and covered in His blood.  Nothing can change that, I've been sealed by His Spirit.

And I do not understand all the mystery of how God does what He does, nor how He loves me when I do not feel loveable.  I do not understand how He moved me from death to life, from sin to holiness.  But His written Word tells me He does it.  And I am ever grateful for the knowledge of His promises and surety of His grace.  Faith is definitely the victory, that overcomes the world.  Thank you, Jesus.  selahV

OTHER POSTS YOU MAY FIND ENCOURAGING:

BECAUSE OF THIS

COUNT IT ALL JOY WHEN YOUR WORLD EXPLODES

WEAKNESS IS A PAIN

I BELIEVE

If you read this today and are searching, feel free to email me.  Maybe I can help.  selahVtoday@aol.com