SelahV Today by hariette petersen

Cultivate Faithfulness and Watch It Bloom

How hard is it to "cultivate faithfulness"? 

Spring is just around the corner.  Last year's flower beds must be prepared for blossoming splender.  To ready the soil, we must clear away the dead leaves from last Summer, Fall and Winter.  We must jerk out all the old plants, clear way debris, then dig into the soil and turn the earth.  We soften it and get it ready to receive new seeds, new plants.  We fertilize it and turn the soil again.  

The same is true for cultivating faithfulness.  We must work at it.  We must prepare our hearts by cleansing our thoughts.  Just as we inspect the grounds and decide what plants need pulling, which need to be cut back, we give ourselves over to the inspection of God.  "Create a clean heart within me."  Test us. Try us.  We ask Him to open our eyes once again to any ill-conceived motives we have for doing what we do.  We remove the old ways like dead plants; we rip them up by the roots.  And we open our hearts to the Word of God and let Him feed us-- fertilize our thoughts and spirit with His.

We "trust in the Lord and do good".  Notice the passage didn't say to be good.  We are not good, but we can surely "do" good.  As we "dwell in the land" and go about our daily lives, we can "cultivate faithfulness".  We can till, mulch and water.  We can advise, pray for and be kind to all those we meet in a given day.

Rather than be irritated by someone, we can be merciful and forgiving.  Rather than return meanspiritedness, we can return love.  Rather than withhold generosity, we can pour out more.  Rather than plant seeds of division and discord, we can plant seeds of joy, praise, and pleasantry.  And...should anyone be surprised by our acts of kindness, we can tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

That, I suppose, is cultivating faithfulness as we dwell in the land, don't you think?

Related articles

Trust the Still Waters

Yes, We Will KNOW the Answers Someday: A Clarification of Sorts

In my last post (which was picked up and republished by SBCToday), I included a statement that may have been misinterpreted. So I thought I'd clarify it in case you're wondering.  I wrote previously that when we meet Jesus face to face and begin living our new life in Heaven, that:

"For all the questions we long to have answered, our minds will be filled with His perfect knowledge– we will understand as He.  Our minds will be perfected in His and we’ll no longer worry, fret, or agonize." ~me

Let me take a minute to share what I mean and don't mean.

Firstly, I do not mean we will have every knowledge of God and be omniscient-- all-knowing. Indeed that is akin to Satan's mindset before his fall from heaven. 

I'm saying, as far as any knowledge we've ever needed here, it will be filled in Him-- in our perfected after-earth person.  We will be totally and completely content.  I believe that "now I know in part; then I shall know fully." 

It's hard to fathom we will "know fully"-- especially when we consider all the questions we have today on this earth about abuse we see, tyanny unleashed, injustice, and slaughter of innocent babies.

All the whys of my time on this earth will be answered.  Why did my mother abandon me when I was 3?  Why did I suffer abuse as a child?  Why did my baby die after only 23 hours of life?  Why did my brother die in front of me when I was but 18 years old?  Why did I miscarry my second baby?  Why did my son survive being hit by a school bus at 5 years old and then have to die at 33 years old?  Why? Discernment is limited.

Here, I do not lean to my own understanding...here I know in part-- there I will know in full. 

I already know why the world is filled with the discord.  It's because it is fallen, it's ripe with evil.  It is under the power of sin.  Only those who trust in the King of Kings can live in righteousness.  Only they can daily come and seek the favor of the Lord and know His mercy and experience continual grace for the hour of temptation and adversity.  Those who refuse to believe in Him and seek to rebel against all that is holy, pure, righteous and moral, find themselves in unending, unsated struggle, emptiness and hunger.

Yes... they hunger.  They do not know they hunger after God.  But their hearts are miserable and they are not happy with any of their pleasures... they are not content with their lot, they must have more, better, greater.  Only those Believers in Christ can know the peace that passes all understanding in a world of chaos.  Only Believers have joy in the midst of heartache. And, only those Believers whose minds are stayed on Him... focused on Him, His will, His way. 

Then when we get to heaven and are spending eternity with our LORD, we'll know the things He knew all along.  Much of what we do not understand we trust by faith that no matter what comes our way, He understands and sustains.  He holds our world in place with His omnipotent power and love.

"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:8-12

Living for Jesus In a Broken World

It can be exhausting, but it's worth it.

The battles are temporary. The personal struggles we have while trying to ignore those battles --the irritations, the rebuke, the ridicule and hatefulness-- these will fade away. The minor slights, the major rejections-- they're nothing compared to the glory we'll see someday. 

Someday we'll stand before the King of Kings who suffered and died in our place.  He took all the sin of all the world upon Himself to make a way for us to spend eternity free from all the trials, tragedies and travesties.

Someday we'll see Him face to face and experience His limitless love, comfort and peace for all eternity.  I cannot fathom the permanence of that glory.

It will not fade away, or rust, or be taken from us.  It won't be a few minutes respite after going through some difficult trial on earth.  We'll receive boundless joy to replace the heartaches we've endured on this earth-- the grief, the separation of loved ones.

For all the times we've thirsted for a refreshing touch of our Savior's Spirit, we'll receive sustaining perpetual refreshment in His continual presence.

All the physical pain we now battle will be gone. Ailments and ravaging disease will be no more. Comfort.  The uncaring people will be replaced with the all-caring God. Eternal Comfort.

For all the questions we long to have answered, our minds will be filled with His perfect knowledge-- we will understand as He.  Our minds will be perfected in His and we'll no longer worry, fret, or angonize.

For all the injustice we've witnessed and all the unconcionable harm we've seen exacted upon innocents, there shall be justice.  For every lie, there shall be truth. All hidden things will be revealed.  All tears will be wiped away.

It's not easy to live for Jesus in such a broken world. The battles are many, the victories seem few.  Take courage, my friends, take courage.  Mourning lasts a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

"O GIVE thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever." Psalm 136:1

Twitter's 140 Character Mindset Won't Fix This Mess in America

But there is a message that can.

Millions upon millions tweet everything from surly snarks to amiable epithets, all in hopes of gaining something in life.  Not sure what folks are truly seeking. Following? Notoriety?  Status? It may be as simple as an audience to support their own thoughts.

It may reach farther into the human psyche than this simple blogger can discern, but...

I think it illustrates the depth of our loneliness-- the desperate abyss of our souls.  Such need there is to connect to life beyond ourselves, don't you think? 

Truly touching are some tweets that parade across the Twitter feeds each day.

The tweet encourages soldiers in foreign countries and lets them know they aren't forgotten by their countrymen. To worn spirits, a well-chosen phrase is like apples of gold for their hearts.  To embattled citizens who seek strength when the world seems against them like the Romeike family, the Seattle bakers, the mother who lost a son in Benghazi and receives no answers.  Tweeters take up the cause.

Twitter's fascinating.  It's an explosion of genius to say something brilliant in 140 characters and have dozens or more people retweet the profundity of our hearts, minds, and yes-- egos. 

Opinions abound.  Check in on anyone's Twitter feed and you'll soon see how to solve the situation with Putin in the Ukraine, fix the American Educational System, defund Obamacare and get rid or Piers Morgan.  You'll meet Patriots and Traitors, Trolls and Moles-- you'll find hatred, camaraderie, enemies and alliances. 

This, my friends, is our world.  Follow me!

Twitter is a snapshot of all that's good and evil in our world.  There are encouragers and discouragers, slayers and naysayers, critics and judges.  There are wits and whiners and powerful designers.  There are framers and founders and wisdom expounders.  And it's absolutely scary to think so much influence can be given in reading the tweet which is not even considered a coherent sentence.

But there it is.

Communication in nano-seconds.  From Bejing to Podunk Hollow, Tennessee. From D.C. to Vegas.  From Wasillah, Alaska to Moscow.  Links upon links, connections and reflections.  Extractions and retractions.  Diversions and perversions. The stream is boundless-- the ripples ever-changing, as the simple confound the wise.

Can we ever rise above such miniscule thinking--away from the sound-bite evaluations? Can we find our way back to a world of contemplation, understanding, and personal introspection?  Or are we beyond grasping the art of comprehension and communication?  Are we ruined?  Spoiled?  Can we not see ourselves?

Sometimes I wonder what a world like this will be ten years down the road.  Will we cease to speak at all?  Will we be one long continuum of letters, numbers dots and symbols?

Will we lump ourselves inside a #hashtag and forever brand ourselves by labels?  It's collected, you know?  Our words and conversations-- if you can call them that-- are stored forevermore in posterity. 

It reminds me of a Scripture verse wherein the Lord warns of judgment day-- a day of accounting.  In that day we will answer for every idle word we've uttered and every mindless thing we've done.  What will my portion be at that moment? 

I have but one thing worth saying at all.  God came to earth one day; He lived among man to show mankind how the Father loved us and how the Father wanted us to love one another.  Then He died on a cross to pay the penalty for all our devious, deceitful, prideful, debaucherous, licentious, perverse, hateful and rebellious schemes against His holiness.  He knew we couldn't live up to His holiness. He knew.  So He gave the sacrifice of His only begotten Son to pay the fine for our sin. Our get-out-of-jail-free card. Jesus died, then rose again to life and conquered the grave.  He did that for you. 

Eternity will be spent with Him or without Him.  Surely we'd rather spend eternity in peace than in everlasting hell, wouldn't we?

Won't you trust in Him today?  Before it's too late to believe?  He promises that all who come to Him in faith believing, He is faithful and just to forgive you of all unrighteousness.  All.  As in every single thing you've ever done against the Holy Creator.  Now that's worth tweeting, any day of the week.

Related articles

When Will Revival Come to America Again?

Take Heart Dear Christian Blogger, Baker, Business Owner

There's hope.

With all the discussion of religious discrimination, bigotry, hatred, and abuse of government power today, a Christian can feel pretty lonely. We see citizens targeted for their beliefs, and their businesses destroyed. We have critics who try to silence our voices as we defend other Christians.  We have politicians and legislators who block attempts for our right to educate and raise our own children. And these say nothing of the everyday battles we each fight individually with health, finances and relationships. 

I find it expedient and necessary to share a few words of encouragement for Christians to consider from God's sanctified author said here:

"For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, 'THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.' For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 15:3-6 NASB [Emboldened & italics mine.]

God knew we Christians would face a day like today wherein issues such as these would create firestorms of controversy with social and political pressures. He forewarned us. God wanted Christians to know that through perseverance and encouragement of Scriptures, we could come to calming conclusions for our heart, mind and soul. In Him there is "hope". He also knew we'd need the help of our brothers and sisters, so he added a prayer for us to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus so that we'd have one voice to glorify our Father in heaven.

Do we have one voice?  We truly need it if we plan to glorify Christ.  What a difference we could make in our world if we all stood together, shoulder to shoulder for all Christian hearts and lives.  I do not know what difficulties you face today, perhaps a battle that seems lost-- or a future that looks bleak. But I do know that the MOST HIGH GOD knows your situation and HE will protect you when you look to Him.  He watches over us wherein our leaders fail and our country falters.  Look to the encouragement of Scripture and receive hope. God's Word is sure.

GOD IS JEALOUS

for me.

and you...

He wants us for Himself.  He does not like the world that draws our attention away from Him.  He loves us beyond any love that anyone can give us.  He gave His only begotten Son to die in our place for the sins we alone commit.  He did that because He wants to have us live with Him eternally in Heaven.  Eye hath not seen what God has prepared for us in Heaven.  Can you imagine? 

Sometimes I try.  I go to places and collect pictures of the majestic, the miraculous, the beautiful, the serene, the calming, the mystical, the glory.  I do that. 

And I marvel at all I see. 

Then God reminds me that all the glory that I see, and all the joy I have experienced and all the love I've ever felt, and the pleasures I have cradled, are nothing.  Absolutely nothing compared to what he has prepared for me.  And you.

It's true. 

"For as it is written, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." 1-Corinthians 2:9

Go take a peek as some of my collected photos of wonder and glory, here.

Only God can give to you what the world withholds and selfishly hordes... only God loved us before we first loved Him.

 

Religious Liberty: the Real Issue, and the Battle for Christian Bloggers Like Me

It's not easy to discern the battles worth fighting sometimes.

After I wrote my post last week entitled, Should Jesus Be None Of My Business, I was cautioned by a commenter that quoting someone is "risky" and could lead to "gossip". Suffice it to say, when bloggers write, bloggers battle all kinds of things.  Some worthy, some not.

The conversation that sparked my critic's comment involves a column in USA Today written by Kirsten Powers in which she quoted Andy Stanley advising a Christian baker: "Jesus died for a world with which he didn't see eye to eye. If a bakery doesn't want to sell its products to a gay couple, it's their business. Literally. But leave Jesus out of it."

I beg to differ. This is not some obscure philosophical, political debate; it's a genuine spiritual dilemma for all Christians.  It pierces the core of an individual's conscience and targets the personal freedoms this country holds dear.

The "real issue" is Religious Liberty.

Yes.  Religious liberty.  For those who are unconcerned about such liberty, I suppose they could "leave Jesus out of it" all.  For Christians who have valued, and until lately, felt free to express and practice their faith without fear of retaliation from society and punishment from government, this is crucial.

This is about religious discrimination, not homophobic bigotry.  Never, in all 65 years I've lived have I seen such intimidating cultural disdain for Christians and people of faith in America.  Ridicule, silencing, rejection, and censoring.  Schools, media and government. This is real.  It's not our imagination.  Businesses, and citizens alike, are feeling the pressures and the strident straps of retaliation.  We do not live in some third world country.  This is the United States of America.

Yet, our country is changing at break-neck pace; we can barely keep up with the issues being thrown in our faces. As President Obama promised in 2008, he is  "fundamentally transforming America". Religious liberty in America is in peril--especially for Christians.

Just yesterday, a story broke regarding two Muslim truck drivers who didn't want to deliver alcohol for their employer because it is against their religion. The government defended them against the trucking company. The trucking company is sued and must compensate them with back pay and who knows what all else before this is over.  Yet, a self-employed Christian baker cannot make a personal religious decision to refuse to bake a cake for a wedding they believe violates their religion?  Where is the equality?

To own a business without freedom to provide services as a conscience demands, is tantamount to being shackled to a government's dictates and consequences.  A Christian photographer, who refused to use god-given gifts and talents to photograph a gay nuptial, was fined 7-thousand dollars.  Should that Christian photographer be forced to photograph a porn-star's portfolio, also?  Should an African-American Christian baker be forced to bake a cake that has a black man hanging from a tree to celebrate a KKK rally protesting Martin Luther King Day?

The Seattle Christian bakers are not forcing their view upon the gay couple who demands a wedding cake-- they are upholding their belief in a biblical view of marriage.  They refuse to serve mammon by sanctioning an act they view in conflict with deeply held faith beliefs.  They're exercising their guaranteed right to practice their faith as they see fit. Would they be forced to bake Halloween cupcakes for Satanists, too?  Where does is stop?

Violating their right to practice their heart-felt faith, rapes the conscience of man. The government usurped their conscience, destroyed their business, and impaired their right to make a living.  How many more businesses will this effect?  Will they have to add mal-practice insurance to their already strapped operating budgets in order to protect their religious liberty and conscience?

There is a message being sent by the liberal courts of this land today-- religious liberty is either extremely costly--or worthless.

Make no mistake, here. Either Christian business owners acquiesce and submit, or they are punished for holding their beliefs.

If government can force us to serve others in a free-enterprise system, then we are not under a free-enterprise system.  We are under a totalitarian regime-- under which the government decides what we do, say and think. If government can dictate that a baker bake a cake, it can dictate that a Christian publisher accept and publish books by atheists and other religions in direct contradiction to their mission in life.  It follows government can force any business to do anything for anyone, or face discrimination penalties.

Have you struggled with where all this is leading?  Will homosexuals progress to a point someday wherein they try to force churches to officiate or host their weddings under threats of discrimination law suits?  Will churches lose tax-exempt status for refusing?  Will they have to cower in upper rooms?  Time will tell.

This threat isn't new, nor is the conversation, but it has reached high-pitch chatter status in the social media, news coverage, and legislative branches of government. It's backed up by a United States Attorney General who tells state attorneys general that they do not have to pay any attention to enforcing laws of the states if they feel it is discriminatory.  Free pass; don't bother.

This is no longer about "letting homosexuals do what they want in the privacy of their own bedrooms," or legalizing their unbiblical unions. It's escalating to legalizing that men be allowed to walk into ladies bathrooms if they feel more like a woman than a man.  They are protected.  Who protects me and my grandchildren in restaurants and movie theaters?  Will businesses have to hire restroom guards?

Friends, our voice is being silenced in a world in need of higher volume.  Fear. Intimidation. Threats of removing income from states which seek to protect Religious Liberty.  He who shouts loudest wins. Business owners are being sued out of existence and jobs being lost as a result.  Patriots intimidated and badgered by the IRS to answer questionaires that ask who they are praying for and what they are praying about.  Do you sense the fear and tension?  I do.

Will all Christians someday be forced by law to withdraw from society as the Amish and Quakers choose to do in order to practice their faith?  Will the internet be closed down to our ponderings on this issue and any other issue the government deems hateful or intolerable for us to discuss? I have little doubt anymore.

Seems anytime any Christian takes an opposing viewpoint on most any issue, they are labeled a bigot of some kind or another.  In Kirsten's column at USA Today she likened the Christians' mindset to Jim Crow lunch-counter racist bigotry. I liken her arguments to that mindset in reverse. It appears it is Christians who are being forced to the back of the bus and out of the business market. And if things don't change, we will soon see religious liberty as a thing of the past. 

When Bloggers Like Me Are Cautioned About Gossip

should we take it seriously? Other bloggers have to speak for themselves.  As for me???

In a previous article I wrote (here), a commenter, Mike, cautioned me about how "risky" quoting someone can be and how it can lead to "gossip". Actually, he didn't like much of what I had to say, at all.  He even assigned an ulterior motive to the purpose of my article.  Unfortunately for my commenter, that part of his critique proved totally false.  In his critique, he included a quote, which he attributed to me, but was actually written by someone else, from another website-- Erick Erickson. It can happen. When folks read a lot of sites covering the same subject, folks can get confused as to what they read and who said what.  That aside...

I do think personal criticisms need to be taken seriously. One-- because it's prudent.  Two-- because I may need to repent and apologize (which is expedient to be done as quickly as possible--like Mike did when I pointed out his error).  Three-- because I may learn something.  In this case, with Mike, I found his caution unfounded.  Rather than let his critique simmer on the back-end of my article, I'm using it for an example to consider as a guide in discerning the value of a critic's criticism and the validity of what I say.

Firstly, we disagreed on premise. "Gossip", to me, is passing on private information about someone with malicious intent. I had no malicious intent, nor do I think Kirsten had any. One author says this about gossip:

"The Hebrew word translated 'gossip' in the Old Testament is defined as 'one who reveals secrets, one who goes about as a talebearer or scandal-monger.' A gossiper is a person who has privileged information about people and proceeds to reveal that information to those who have no business knowing it." [To read more on gossip, go here/link]

So, did I really gossip about Andy Stanley? did Kirsten Powers? I don't think so, the information I had was not privileged, nor private. It was public knowledge.  Also, Kirsten Powers is a well-respected journalist and popular news analyst. It's  presumptuous to consider she'd attribute a private personal quote to someone that is not hers to reveal or was not freely given--she's a credible writer.  Journalists protect sources--they don't expose them.  She went to Andy in an interview situation to acquire his opinion.  He gave it.  She quoted it to reinforce her position on what she deems homosexual discrimination, albeit others, including I, see as a religious discrimination issue. So, given how many people have written about Andy Stanley's quote to Kirsten, I felt quite safe in re-quoting it after I found it at the source of her own article/here.

Given the ripple of public scrutiny and troubling confusion created, a retraction would be in order if it weren't true. To my knowledge, Andy hasn't requested one, nor has he walked back the statement.

Anyone can say something they wish they hadn't (Mike regrets his mistake with me). I'm a bit snarky at times (I'm working on it).  I don't think I erred when I lamented my mental and soulful weariness regarding Christians who try to live as Jesus would want in all areas of life (as in the case of the Seattle bakers), only to have their concerns tossed aside as irrelevant by a brother-in-Christ with prominent status.

Since the issue went beyond that of the bakers in Seattle to the bill in Kansas, which inadvertently coincided with the Arizona law, we must recognize this as a much larger issue in our country.  Even Eric Metaxas, a minister instrumental in Kirsten's recent conversion to Christianity, disagrees with Kirsten and Andy; he said so on his facebook page when Erick Erickson's rebutted Kirsten's views:

"I'm afraid that in this my dear friend Kirsten Powers and pastor Andy Stanley are mistaken. I believe their hearts are absolutely in the right place, which is perhaps the most important thing, but in their ultimately standing aside so that the Religious Freedom of Kansans and other Americans can be disregarded, they are missing something very important, something crucial, and with great ramifications for all. Let our conversations on this subject be civil and respectful, but let's have them."

So, folks, I make no apologies for writing about a subject I find most "crucial" as Metaxas affirms.  As a blogger and a sister-in-Christ, I saw a need to support fellow Christians and defend their position. 

As Christian bloggers grapple with issues of the day, we must engage with caution, in a spirit of grace, but we must not sit silently on the sidelines while religious liberty is crushed beneath the feet of rulers who usurp the constitution and the conscience of man, either.  

So I wrote about the quandry of it all. It was not gossip.  It's a matter of exhortation, similar to what my commenter tried to do with me in his critique and caution.  We learn, we share with one another...then Christians must pray.  We offer apologies, ask forgiveness wherein we err, and move on.  Most importantly, we must look at Scripture and stand on it, and it alone, to make decisions when we speak, think, or write.  For me it's all about Jesus and I won't leave Him out of my conversations. Without Him, I am nothing. ~hariette petersen @SelahVToday

Related articles

Should Jesus be None of my Business?

Where and How Kirsten Powers Is Misrepresenting the Christian Position on "Same-Sex Marriage"

 

When Will Revival Come to America Again?

We're so sick, Lord.

Our country is desperately in need of You.  We are so broken.  We're so far away from You.  We battle battles not worthy of consideration.  We uphold things unworthy of thought, let alone action. We turn our heads at sin and wink at that which appalls You.  We sit silent when we should rise up and shout.  We play with all that's unholy and pretend we're clean... we're protected, after all, by Your blood, Your grace, Your mercy. 

We strain at gnats and swallow camels.  We are like the whitewashed tombs that pretend we care when we do not. We all want front row seats...to be first in line... to be bathed in the blessings of this world and to have our rights upheld in every way--for self-serving gain.  We seek Your favor for a tasteless lifestyle.

We fight for religious freedom to do nothing with it.  Why should You grant us grace to overcome this evil, sinful, immoral culture?  We wallow in sin and expect You to move against the evil policies of this government-- the rulers of darkness.  We water down the gospel of Christ, refuse to get our hands dirty and help the down and out.  We shun the least of Yours and give less of ourselves to those less fortunate, and more of ourselves for our own pleasure, comfort and entertainment.  We're more concerned with our manicures than the widow struggling to pay for insulin.

We shake our heads at those kids with pants hanging down below their knees whose noses, ears, eyebrows and tongues are pierced with studs. We shudder in disgust at scantily clad punk-rock singers and pray our children never look to them as examples even though we bought all their clothes lines when they were rising up as child-stars. We wonder what this world is coming to. Our mirrors could speak volumes if we dared to look.

Yet, we do nothing in and of ourselves.  We complain, we tweet, we argue, we debate.  We point fingers and write essays of angst.  We cannot do this anymore, Lord.  We need You.  We deserve the mess we are in. Our apathy has led us down this path.  Our trust in feckless leaders, our resignation to the status quo. 

Satan's like a prowling lion, traveling this country, invading homes, destroying families, dividing churches.  It is time to clean our houses.  It's time to clear out the trash in our homes, our hearts, and minds.  It's time to refrain from doing business as usual and be unusual in the world. 

We need to resolve to be the best You can make us to be.  To turn away from wickedness, denounce filth and decadence and debauchery. We need to stand with courage and speak of Your holiness, purity and righteousness.

"Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

‘We played the pipe for you,

and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge,

and you did not cry.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” Luke 7:31-35

Jesus came to show the world what was necessary. John the Baptist to sacrifice his all to preach repentance of sin.  The world shunned him and said he had a demon... was not real... his words demented and full of worthless talk.

Do unbelievers do this with God's prophets today?  With those who are living sacrificially and set apart from the lies of the world. Those who live circumspectfully as Christ has called them to live-- holy, set apart, concerned with things of Christ and not things of this world.  Yes, we tell them to hush.  To be still and not rock the boats of political correctness.  We do not want to hear truth-- they are too offensive. We put them in boxes and tell them to shut up-- quiet down.

THEN Jesus came and showed by example how to live among the world, to show the world that we can live in the world among temptations without succumbing to those temptations.  But when He did, He was ridiculed and rebuked and condemned for reaching out to those gluttons, drunkards and sinners.  They played the pipes their way.  They looked at life their way.  They chose to ignore the warnings of John the Baptist, the message of Christ, the acceptance of God.  Then they simply ignored that which could give them life. Real life. Happiness.  True happiness.  Hope.  Real hope. They crucified Him, instead.

Our generation stands on the precipice of life. Our country is teetering on the edge of destruction.  Our churches are playing pipes and singing dirges.  People are not dancing to our happy tune-- our choruses of joy and peace and grace.

Why not?  perhaps it is our countenance at fault.  Do our actions, attitudes and word belie the emptiness of our own hearts, the selfishness of our spirits, the lack of joy in our Lord? the hypocrisy of our attitudes of lust, discouragement, and whining?

Why aren't people crying when we sing our somber song expressing sadness and sorrow for the lostness of this world?  do we sing without tears? without true brokenness of spirit?  Is it because we are more concerned with what we feel about the sin and evil in this world, than we are the sin within our own hearts? Does the world see the hypocrisy of our faith walk?  where we are willing to compromise with the world and give in to culture pressures in order to gain materially?  where we allow society to dictate our walk with God?  can they see our unconcern-- that we are dancing with the devil, rather than mourning the lost in sin?

"Wisdom is proved right by all her children." Where are the children of Wisdom, Lord?  Lord, bring a revival.  Let it begin in me. 

Related articles

I Don't Know Why, But

Can We Mind Our Own Business and Leave Jesus Out of It?

Tear Down That Cross

Are You Satisfied With Yourself?

Sometimes I am.  Yet, never quite contented.  It's these times I recognize the barrenness of my soul.  I feel the pangs of hunger unsated.  I know it is because I long for more of God.  I know.

I don't look for peace in the world or from it.  I do not search for happy words written by someone else.  I don't seek silly videos to make me laugh, giggle or chuckle.  I don't devour honey drizzled croissants.

Pretty pictures of dew-kissed roses,

fields filled with daisies, sunflowers and dandelions blowing in the wind,

and... serene scenes of wooded glades do not quell my need.

They only make me hunger all the more for You, O, Lord, my God, my Creator, My Savior and Sustainer.

Bands of sunshine spray through billowing clouds to kiss the glistening sea, yet, still...

they pale in the significance of having a touch from Your Spirit in my soul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come now, Holy Spirit and feed our hungry souls

satisfy our longing for You and You alone.   selahVtoday