Hair quickly pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Shoes, mesh shorts, and a T-shirt thrust on in a rush. Dread, weaves its way from my stomach to my throat. I can almost taste the salt of sweat that would be on my lips shortly.
Working out, though loved when it is finished, is hated in the minuets before starting. Hurrying to get the last few things gathered together, I noticed my sister was on the phone. I can tell by her tone and words of choice that it’s not my parents; it had to be a friend of hers by the way she was talking.
“It’s Lynnae.” Was the answer that slipped out of her mouth in a whisper. Upon hearing this I take a few moments to tease Lynnae through Krista, who became our mediator.
All was fine and well until Krista repeated some of Lynnae’s words that I knew were probably coming, but was not ready for.
These words quickly turned our joking, casual conversation, into a serious debate.
“Tell her that I am concerned for her.” These were the simple words that Lynnae spoke through Krista. These words have been spoken by many people over the course of my lifetime, but they have never held such weight as in this particular time in my life.
Right when I heard the words fall from Krista’s lips, I knew exactly what she was concerned about.
“Well, this should be fairly easy, I have fought off all my attackers thus far (Esther, Shelly, My parents) Lynnae should be no problem at all. This should be quick, and soon I will be in the fitness center working out, having won yet another victory.”
These were the thoughts that ran in my head just before we started in on it.
“Why are you concerned?” I asked, already knowing the answer that was about to proceed out of her mouth.
At this point Krista handed me the phone because there was no use mediating a debate. Debates should be between the two involved.
“Well your mother has told me about your relationship with your boyfriend, and how it is not good and I am just concerned for you.”
Her words were like arrows flying at my castle that I had built up. All my weapons were then summoned forth one by one, trying to shield myself and even combat her points with points of my own. But I was not really fighting with Lynnae that night, she was just a mere instrument, I was really fighting with God!
We went back and forth for at least an hour. Slowly, I went from totally strong in my argument to very weak. My points even to me became futile sounding. I knew towards the end what I needed to do, but it pained me to admit that i was wrong and it also pained me to know that i was about to lose everything close to me. Finally, I realized that this crazed lady (or at least that is what I thought of her at the time) was not going to give up. All others had in the past given up. They would fight me to a certain point but had never succeeded at penetrating my castle wall, until God used Lynnae. He must have known that it had to be someone strong, someone who would not give up, someone who was tenacious.
Finally she broke through the wall and I realized what I needed to do. And like i said it pained me very greatly to suddenly realize that my parents were right, and that i had hurt them, and that I was about to hurt some others all because of my selfishness and pride.
But a real encouragement to me was that Lynnae was still there for me the very next day! She was there to let me know that she was praying for me. What an encouragement that was and what an example she has set. I long to let God work through me as He did with Lynnae that night!
Someone, very recently, when referring to the breakup, told me “You followed your parents.” My reply was short and simple but very emphatic. “No, I did not follow my parents, nor did I follow Lynnae, they were all just mere tools. The person I followed was God.”
Since that night many things have changed. I have grown a lot I think through that whole situation for one. I have realized just how sick my sin of "people pleasing" has become.
Another thing that has changed is me, myself. When referring back to that night, my sister has recently told me that what I said to Lynnae was totally out of character for me. I was saying things that night, that normally I would never say.
In fact leading up to the break-up my dad would ask me more often than not, one simple but yet profound question. “Where is my Bethy?”
At these words, I always angered and my defenses immediately would go up. “Man the wall” was something that I was familiar with when my parents would bring up the relationship. I had to be sure to be ready for battle with them anytime that I was home, partly why I tried to stay on campus a lot.
Answering his question with one of my own, I would always ask “How, dad, how have I changed?”
The answer was always the same. He would go on to explain to me how, he used to know a girl, who was quiet and discerning. Who would, instead of giving the quick answer or speaking her mind, think about what she was going to say before speaking. I had once been girl who more often than not wisely held her tongue, and did not always speak her mind. But all that had changed. I found myself in more arguments with both my parents and the young man whom I was dating, than I had ever been in before.
I angered a lot more easily, in fact I found myself crying a lot more. My life was characterized by constant stress, and a constant pull between my parents and what was right and the young man. Just thinking about it makes my heart cringe, but I literally was exchanging the truth for a lie!
Shortly after the break-up I went back home one weekend and was sitting at the dinner table next to my dad. During the meal, I found myself laughing and enjoying myself with my parents, without the dread of wondering if we would fight later. I was in pure enjoyment and harmony with them. Clearly the prodigal was at home and eating the “fatted calf” though she deserved to be the slave.
At one point in a break in the laughter and conversation, my dad leaned in and said some of the most wonderful words this prodigal has heard.
His blue eyes sparkle with a love that is just for me, though I know I deserve it not.
“I am glad that my Bethy is back.” WOW!
What a wonderful moment. To know that I was not only back with my heavenly Father but that my earthly father had chosen to mirror my heavenly one and forgive me as well.
He noticed a change! One I am thankful has taken place.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
A Stone's Throw from the Israelites of Moses' day
The Israelites had been freed from Egyptian slavery and were wandering in the wilderness. While there God provided them with guidance ( a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night) , yet they complained about wandering, and that things had been better in Egypt.
God also provided them with food and not just any food, this was food that rained down from heaven, and was enough for each individual person, they we not starving. This food they called Manna: a bread like substance. But then we see that they also complained about this food as well, they claimed that they wanted something better, they wanted meat!!
So God gave them meat... and lots of it!!! He gave them live quail, in fact so much that it was 3 ft. deep!!! Now if that is not alot of meat.. I don't know what is!! This would be heaven for me just hand me a BB gun and I would go to town with killing them!!! That would be the perfect hunting day!!
Anyways where was I??? OH yes the quail!! So they complained about that later on! God also provided them with water when they needed it and also guidance through Moses, through His commands and also pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night!
Also let's not forget the very fact that He gave them freedom from Egypt, got them across the red sea and cured them from a terrible sickness that came from snakes ( lifting up the snake in the wilderness).
And He also restrained from punishing them time and again and they were in fact on their way to the promised land. They were SO SO blessed in many ways, and yet we find them in the book of Exodus complaining time and again.
And I as an American in the 21st century look at that and click my tongue as if to say "Shame, shame you Israelites!! Can't you see what God has and is doing for you?? Why are you complaining??" And in fact I am tempted to think that I am better then them, when in fact I am way worse then them!
For I have it far greater than they. After all I live in a nice dorm ( when at school) and a nice House ( when I am home) versus a tent. I really don't have to travel everyday like they did and when I do it most often is not on foot ( minus my walk to work which is prolly not even half a mile I am pretty certain that they walked MILES) I can just hop into a car and get where I am going.
I have plenty of food whenever I need it, and it is never just bread or quail I have way more variety than that. And though I have not been freed from Egyptian slavery I have been freed in an even greater sense from the slavery of my sin!!!! Because of Christ the son of God's death on the cross I have been freed from the guilt and shame and punishment of my sin and am now a child of God's!!
And I too am headed to a promised land just as they were but my promised land is way better as well! For heaven you see is even greater than their promised land for this promised land is free of sin and it is the most perfect place.
So as you can see I have it even better than they did, and yet I complain just as much as they did if not more than they did! And when I really began to think about this I thought to myself "How could this be? How could I look down on the Israelites for complaining when I myself have it better off then they did and complain even more than they did!"
All this was brought to mind in my quiet time with God the past few days. My Bible reading has been in Psalm 78 and in versus 18- 21 it talks about the Israelites and how they complained against God. First it states what God had given them and then it states that they complained. And it just got me to thinking about the seriousness of complaining.
Psalm 78:18-21
18 They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.
This verse shows me what complaining it. It states
that complaining is willful in that they willfully complained. It is never mindless like sometimes I like to think it is.
I would sometimes like to dismiss my complaining as "out of my control" in that I say that "well If things were not this way, or if I only had this_____, then I would not complain" But that is never true for I would find something to complain about even if I had all the riches in the world!! But what is complaining?
Complaining is speaking against God when you think about it honestly!! WE would like to think that we complain because of our circumstances, because of not having what we think we need. Or complaining about the fact that there are things we want but do not have. Take the Israelites for instance, in this verse at the end it says that they were demanding that God give them the food they craved. Notice how it does not say by demanding for the food they needed, no it does not say that because they already had food, the problem was they did not have the food they really wanted.
Complaining is speaking against God because what I am saying to God when I complain is that "I deserve better than what He has provided" When in reality I DO NOT deserve even what He has given me!! You see complaining when taken honestly is a serious sin! It is speaking against God! This means that anytime I complain no matter what I am complaining about I am telling God that I deserve better, I am telling Him that who HE is and what He has done matters nothing to me and is not sufficent.
It is as if I am looking at Jesus on the cross suffering and dying for my sin and all I have to say is "I want more... give me more!"
I am but a stones throw from Israel... in fact I am worse because I have it better than they!
19 They spoke against God, saying,
"Can God spread a table in the desert?
We see here that complaining is as I stated before speaking against God, the creator of the universe and me and the savior of the world! It also shows that He is fully capable of providing for my needs ( food in particular) and it matters not where I am for He can and will provide for me no matter where I am!
20 When he struck the rock, water gushed out,
and streams flowed abundantly.
But can he also give us food?
Can he supply meat for his people?"
As stated earlier and as seen in this verse God provided them with water ( He does this for me as well for there is an endless supply of it with just a turn of a knob and any faucet nearest me, and I am never far from one. And to think I do not even have to strike a rock!!)
He also provided them with meat because they were tiring of the manna, and to think that I have more variety than that and yet I too still complain!! Just a stones throw folks... just a stones throw!!!
21 When the LORD heard them, he was very angry;
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel
And finally were learn here that complaining angers God, and RIGHTLY SO!!!
Imagine, you make a good dinner for someone. Then after the dinner all that person did was to tell you how bad it tasted and what all you did wrong and then they proceeded to say what would have been better. And how angry you would be?? And don't say that you would not be because you would, we all hate it when we go to great lengths to do something nice for someone and all that person has to say is complaints about the thing we did.
Or imagine that you are in the hot desert, with a friend. And the friend gets thirsty and you are the only one with water left, so you let your friend have the rest, choosing to go thirsty just so your friend will have some water. And then after drinking it all your friend has to say is to complain about the water and how much better the water at home was, the friend does not even thank you in fact he just keeps on complaining. All that sacrifice for him and all he has to say is complaints!!!
And yet we do the very same thing to God!! He provides me with far greater than what the Israelites had and yet I complain just as much if not more than they!
I am no better, in fact I am worse!!
And not only that but God has sent His son to die for me, I am permanently free from sin and will one day be with my Father in heaven FOREVER! What could be greater than that?? Even if I had nothing left but salvation at least I would have salvation!!!
You see the bottom line here is I must never think that I deserve better for I do not even deserve what I do have!! I have been redeemed, that is the greatest thing, the sin of complaining is serious and deadly and contagious ( it affected the entire tribe of Israel, and we see it happen everyday. A family is all fine and good until someone starts complaining and then it is like a stone has been thrown into a pond, the ripples go everywhere stirring up the once calm water.)
May I remember the seriousness of my complaining and never make excuses for it never let it consume my thoughts and words. May I remember that I do not even deserve what I do have. May I be content with what I have, and may I live a life of thankfulness and gratitude toward the GREAT GOD,the sustainer, the provider of ALL needs, the lover and redeemer of this wretched prodigal (me).
May I repent of the sin of complaining and rely on God to rid me of that and to become a more true and thankful follower of Him!
God also provided them with food and not just any food, this was food that rained down from heaven, and was enough for each individual person, they we not starving. This food they called Manna: a bread like substance. But then we see that they also complained about this food as well, they claimed that they wanted something better, they wanted meat!!
So God gave them meat... and lots of it!!! He gave them live quail, in fact so much that it was 3 ft. deep!!! Now if that is not alot of meat.. I don't know what is!! This would be heaven for me just hand me a BB gun and I would go to town with killing them!!! That would be the perfect hunting day!!
Anyways where was I??? OH yes the quail!! So they complained about that later on! God also provided them with water when they needed it and also guidance through Moses, through His commands and also pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night!
Also let's not forget the very fact that He gave them freedom from Egypt, got them across the red sea and cured them from a terrible sickness that came from snakes ( lifting up the snake in the wilderness).
And He also restrained from punishing them time and again and they were in fact on their way to the promised land. They were SO SO blessed in many ways, and yet we find them in the book of Exodus complaining time and again.
And I as an American in the 21st century look at that and click my tongue as if to say "Shame, shame you Israelites!! Can't you see what God has and is doing for you?? Why are you complaining??" And in fact I am tempted to think that I am better then them, when in fact I am way worse then them!
For I have it far greater than they. After all I live in a nice dorm ( when at school) and a nice House ( when I am home) versus a tent. I really don't have to travel everyday like they did and when I do it most often is not on foot ( minus my walk to work which is prolly not even half a mile I am pretty certain that they walked MILES) I can just hop into a car and get where I am going.
I have plenty of food whenever I need it, and it is never just bread or quail I have way more variety than that. And though I have not been freed from Egyptian slavery I have been freed in an even greater sense from the slavery of my sin!!!! Because of Christ the son of God's death on the cross I have been freed from the guilt and shame and punishment of my sin and am now a child of God's!!
And I too am headed to a promised land just as they were but my promised land is way better as well! For heaven you see is even greater than their promised land for this promised land is free of sin and it is the most perfect place.
So as you can see I have it even better than they did, and yet I complain just as much as they did if not more than they did! And when I really began to think about this I thought to myself "How could this be? How could I look down on the Israelites for complaining when I myself have it better off then they did and complain even more than they did!"
All this was brought to mind in my quiet time with God the past few days. My Bible reading has been in Psalm 78 and in versus 18- 21 it talks about the Israelites and how they complained against God. First it states what God had given them and then it states that they complained. And it just got me to thinking about the seriousness of complaining.
Psalm 78:18-21
18 They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.
This verse shows me what complaining it. It states
that complaining is willful in that they willfully complained. It is never mindless like sometimes I like to think it is.
I would sometimes like to dismiss my complaining as "out of my control" in that I say that "well If things were not this way, or if I only had this_____, then I would not complain" But that is never true for I would find something to complain about even if I had all the riches in the world!! But what is complaining?
Complaining is speaking against God when you think about it honestly!! WE would like to think that we complain because of our circumstances, because of not having what we think we need. Or complaining about the fact that there are things we want but do not have. Take the Israelites for instance, in this verse at the end it says that they were demanding that God give them the food they craved. Notice how it does not say by demanding for the food they needed, no it does not say that because they already had food, the problem was they did not have the food they really wanted.
Complaining is speaking against God because what I am saying to God when I complain is that "I deserve better than what He has provided" When in reality I DO NOT deserve even what He has given me!! You see complaining when taken honestly is a serious sin! It is speaking against God! This means that anytime I complain no matter what I am complaining about I am telling God that I deserve better, I am telling Him that who HE is and what He has done matters nothing to me and is not sufficent.
It is as if I am looking at Jesus on the cross suffering and dying for my sin and all I have to say is "I want more... give me more!"
I am but a stones throw from Israel... in fact I am worse because I have it better than they!
19 They spoke against God, saying,
"Can God spread a table in the desert?
We see here that complaining is as I stated before speaking against God, the creator of the universe and me and the savior of the world! It also shows that He is fully capable of providing for my needs ( food in particular) and it matters not where I am for He can and will provide for me no matter where I am!
20 When he struck the rock, water gushed out,
and streams flowed abundantly.
But can he also give us food?
Can he supply meat for his people?"
As stated earlier and as seen in this verse God provided them with water ( He does this for me as well for there is an endless supply of it with just a turn of a knob and any faucet nearest me, and I am never far from one. And to think I do not even have to strike a rock!!)
He also provided them with meat because they were tiring of the manna, and to think that I have more variety than that and yet I too still complain!! Just a stones throw folks... just a stones throw!!!
21 When the LORD heard them, he was very angry;
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel
And finally were learn here that complaining angers God, and RIGHTLY SO!!!
Imagine, you make a good dinner for someone. Then after the dinner all that person did was to tell you how bad it tasted and what all you did wrong and then they proceeded to say what would have been better. And how angry you would be?? And don't say that you would not be because you would, we all hate it when we go to great lengths to do something nice for someone and all that person has to say is complaints about the thing we did.
Or imagine that you are in the hot desert, with a friend. And the friend gets thirsty and you are the only one with water left, so you let your friend have the rest, choosing to go thirsty just so your friend will have some water. And then after drinking it all your friend has to say is to complain about the water and how much better the water at home was, the friend does not even thank you in fact he just keeps on complaining. All that sacrifice for him and all he has to say is complaints!!!
And yet we do the very same thing to God!! He provides me with far greater than what the Israelites had and yet I complain just as much if not more than they!
I am no better, in fact I am worse!!
And not only that but God has sent His son to die for me, I am permanently free from sin and will one day be with my Father in heaven FOREVER! What could be greater than that?? Even if I had nothing left but salvation at least I would have salvation!!!
You see the bottom line here is I must never think that I deserve better for I do not even deserve what I do have!! I have been redeemed, that is the greatest thing, the sin of complaining is serious and deadly and contagious ( it affected the entire tribe of Israel, and we see it happen everyday. A family is all fine and good until someone starts complaining and then it is like a stone has been thrown into a pond, the ripples go everywhere stirring up the once calm water.)
May I remember the seriousness of my complaining and never make excuses for it never let it consume my thoughts and words. May I remember that I do not even deserve what I do have. May I be content with what I have, and may I live a life of thankfulness and gratitude toward the GREAT GOD,the sustainer, the provider of ALL needs, the lover and redeemer of this wretched prodigal (me).
May I repent of the sin of complaining and rely on God to rid me of that and to become a more true and thankful follower of Him!
Have We Become Sophisticated in our Blame shifting?
It is true, we have been blame shifting ever since sin first entered the world. As we know Adam shifted the blame of his sin on Eve when God confronted him on eating of the forbidden fruit. Adam said that "the woman that you gave to me, she gave me the forbidden fruit."
So we see that men blameshift. Then we also see that women blameshift as well for Eve when God turned His attention to her blamed it on Satan. And Satan was never given the chance to shift any blame but one has to wonder if he would have tried.
( The account of the fall is found in Genesis 3).
So we can see from the history of man and sin that blameshifting has been around for since the beginning of sin.
So you are all probably wondering how we have gotten "sophisticated" in our blameshifting?
Well we learn from the account of the Fall that Adam and Eve shifted their blame on other people ( or in Eve's case on a fallen angel...Satan.)
And it is true we still do that today, we often say after we have sinned "Well if you had not done___" or "Well you did____ and that is why I ___" and you fill in the blank. This form of blameshifiting is all too common place. In fact believe it or not but I have actually caught myself not only giving this excuse to people but I have caught myself telling God this as well. After I have sinned it has been my practice to pray and confess it to God and ask His forgiveness ( either after or before confessing and asking forgiveness from the humans I have wronged).
And I must be totally honest because there have been times where I have actually begun to say to God "Forgive me Father for doing such and such, or for saying such and such, but if they had not done such and such..." and that is when the Holy spirit works in me and tugs at my heart letting me know that blameshifiting is a sin, and then I have to not only confess the first sin I commited but also the second sin of blameshifting. I am no better than Adam and Eve, for this is exactly what they did, they blameshifted right in front of the face of God. No we can't talk to God face to face as Adam and Eve did, but we do pray and sometimes in my praying I find myself shifting the blame of my sin on other people.
I have forgotten Ecclesiasties 5:2
" Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few." I have too easily forgotten to whom I am speaking with!!
So you are probably thinking by now "okay Bethany so you so far have showed us nothing more sophisticated in the area of blameshifting" but may I say "just hold your horses I am getting there."
So we know that blameshifting has been here since the fall and that we have even been using blameshifting with God.
But the way we have become more sophisticated in our blameshifting is in the fact that we not only shift the blame of our sin on other people around us but now we also shift the blame of our sin onto our circumstances!
We do not see Adam nor Eve blaming their sin on circumstances, but only on other people.
But shifting the blame on circumstances is all too common place today! It is seen in times when we get angry. Take me for instance, when I get angry and fly off the handle I say "Well I am just stressed." And what is stress?? It is caused by circumstances. Or better yet I say "I got angry because I had a bad day at work... or I am working on very little sleep right now."
And again sometimes I even try to use these when I confess my sin to God.
You see as time has gone on the curse and really sin has only gotten worse and worse. As time has gone on we have become more sophisticated and more deeply entrenched in sin, to where often times we have become numb to it. This is why praying for a heart like David, who in the Psalms when speaking of his sin said that the thoughts of it made his bones dry up. We must pray for a sensitivity to sin, to see it, and to have the courage to not blameshift but to rather call and see sin as what God calls and sees it as.
Blameshifting is the attempt to either convice yourself or others or even God ( or all three in many cases) that the sin that you commited was somehow out of your control. In other words you are trying to get others to think and see that the sin that you commited was totally out of your power to stop.
When we shift the blame to people we want others to think that it was someone elses fault, when we shift the blame to circumstances we want people to think that it was because we did not get enough sleep, or that it was inbred into our genes or because of our culture that we are living in.
Another way that we have become sophisticated in the area of blameshifting is in the area of emotions or feelings. We often hear speakers say that love is a choice and rightly so because love truly is a choice. But have you ever thought of why we as humans would ever want to think that love is a feeling?? Because it makes things easier for us ( as all blameshifting does). When love is dismissed as a feeling suddenly the blame for not loving someone is no longer in existance because most people see emotions and feelings as out of our control.
Whenever someone says that they "don't feel like loving someone" then suddenly they are not blamed for wrong actions toward that "someone" because we have all believed the lie that emotions and feelings are out of our control. You see blameshifting is a great thing to us fallen humans because it makes things seem like they are out of our control, which seems like a good thing. But as with every good thing Satan always has a counterfeit, and the counterfeit does exactly what a counterfeit should do. It acts and looks like the same as the "real deal" but then when you go and try to use it, suddenly it does not work and does not give the same results as the "real deal" does. For every good from God
(good virtues, commands that He gives) there is a counterfeit ( sin) that Satan will try to luer us with much the same way as a fishermen leurs a fish with a fake leur.
When we dismiss love as the counterfeit, just a feeling, then it never works as love should work.
Love in the real sense of the word is a choice, and when we admit that it is a choice suddenly "loving others" becomes a little easier because it is no longer out of our control like the counterfeit of love as a feeling. Suddenly we learn that we can choose to love someone whether they are worthy of it or not ( which really they are according to Romans 13:8 which states that we owe every person on the planet LOVE) or whether we think that they are worthy of it or not.
Yes it becomes harder when we do not love someone because then we see that it is totally our fault because we chose not to love that someone. But as with everything there is a hard and an easy side to love when seen as a choice!
Okay so we have seen that we blameshift in the area of love, but we also do it in the area of Joy or happiness. We have probably all heard speakers say that Joy, or happiness is a choice, and RIGHTLY so because that is exactly what joy and happiness is. It is choice, you can choose to be happy.
But again have we ever thought through why we as humans would want happiness to be a feeling??
And again we have the same answer because it makes things seem easier. If you say that you do not "feel happy" then suddenly we do not blame you at all because as I stated before we have come to see emotions as out of our control ( which sometimes they may just be).
So we don't blame you.
But that is only because we have accepted Satan's luer or counterfeit as it were. We have come to see happiness as an emotion and therefore out of anyone's control.
But when we ackowledge and see joy (happiness) as what it truly is, a choice suddenly things become easier and we find that we can have happiness no matter what is going on around us, and no matter what we are going through!
Suddenly things get brighter, and start to look up when we neglect Satan's counterfeit and embrace God's "real deal."
That must be why James said in James 1, that we can consider it a joy when we face trials, because James saw happiness not as a feeling, not as dependent upon how we feel or how our circumstances or people make us feel, but rather as a choice.
So here is a question, what do love and joy have in common ( other than the fact that we wrongly call them both a feeling.)?????
The answer is that they are both fruits of the spirit! And they are both to be seen in the life of the Christian because Christ said that everyone will know we are Christians by the fruits that we display. But how could we as Christians display love and joy ( fruits of the spirit) if they are out of our control to display? How could we display something that we have no control over?? You see things get harder and more complicated when we accept Satan's counterfeit. Oh sure at first they seem easier in that we don't have to take the blame for not being happy or loving, but then when you really work that out we suddenly realize that the displaying the fruit of the spirit is no longer in our control. This is why we must never dismiss Joy and Love as just mere feelings. We must call them what God calls them: a choice!
Funny how we only do this to two of the fruits of the spirit. You never hear" well I just did not feel like having paitence" or I just "did not feel like pursuing peace with that person"
Gal. 5:16-18
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. "
You see we are always at war with our sinful nature. It is our sinful nature that wants to call Love and happiness a mere feeling. It is our sinful nature that wants to shift the blame of our sin onto people and to shift the blame of our choices on feelings.
But we must be led by the spirit! The sinful nature is contrary to the Spirit, as seen in the stark difference of love as a choice versus a mere feeling!
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Gal. 5:22-23
So we have indeed become more sophisticated in our blameshifting! But let's not continue in this! Lets call sin and emotions what God calls them ( sin= wrong and emotions=choice)
Let's put on the fruit of the spirit and choose to have paitence love happiness, kindness etc.
Let us accect God's REAL DEAL versus Satan's counterfeit!
So we see that men blameshift. Then we also see that women blameshift as well for Eve when God turned His attention to her blamed it on Satan. And Satan was never given the chance to shift any blame but one has to wonder if he would have tried.
( The account of the fall is found in Genesis 3).
So we can see from the history of man and sin that blameshifting has been around for since the beginning of sin.
So you are all probably wondering how we have gotten "sophisticated" in our blameshifting?
Well we learn from the account of the Fall that Adam and Eve shifted their blame on other people ( or in Eve's case on a fallen angel...Satan.)
And it is true we still do that today, we often say after we have sinned "Well if you had not done___" or "Well you did____ and that is why I ___" and you fill in the blank. This form of blameshifiting is all too common place. In fact believe it or not but I have actually caught myself not only giving this excuse to people but I have caught myself telling God this as well. After I have sinned it has been my practice to pray and confess it to God and ask His forgiveness ( either after or before confessing and asking forgiveness from the humans I have wronged).
And I must be totally honest because there have been times where I have actually begun to say to God "Forgive me Father for doing such and such, or for saying such and such, but if they had not done such and such..." and that is when the Holy spirit works in me and tugs at my heart letting me know that blameshifiting is a sin, and then I have to not only confess the first sin I commited but also the second sin of blameshifting. I am no better than Adam and Eve, for this is exactly what they did, they blameshifted right in front of the face of God. No we can't talk to God face to face as Adam and Eve did, but we do pray and sometimes in my praying I find myself shifting the blame of my sin on other people.
I have forgotten Ecclesiasties 5:2
" Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few." I have too easily forgotten to whom I am speaking with!!
So you are probably thinking by now "okay Bethany so you so far have showed us nothing more sophisticated in the area of blameshifting" but may I say "just hold your horses I am getting there."
So we know that blameshifting has been here since the fall and that we have even been using blameshifting with God.
But the way we have become more sophisticated in our blameshifting is in the fact that we not only shift the blame of our sin on other people around us but now we also shift the blame of our sin onto our circumstances!
We do not see Adam nor Eve blaming their sin on circumstances, but only on other people.
But shifting the blame on circumstances is all too common place today! It is seen in times when we get angry. Take me for instance, when I get angry and fly off the handle I say "Well I am just stressed." And what is stress?? It is caused by circumstances. Or better yet I say "I got angry because I had a bad day at work... or I am working on very little sleep right now."
And again sometimes I even try to use these when I confess my sin to God.
You see as time has gone on the curse and really sin has only gotten worse and worse. As time has gone on we have become more sophisticated and more deeply entrenched in sin, to where often times we have become numb to it. This is why praying for a heart like David, who in the Psalms when speaking of his sin said that the thoughts of it made his bones dry up. We must pray for a sensitivity to sin, to see it, and to have the courage to not blameshift but to rather call and see sin as what God calls and sees it as.
Blameshifting is the attempt to either convice yourself or others or even God ( or all three in many cases) that the sin that you commited was somehow out of your control. In other words you are trying to get others to think and see that the sin that you commited was totally out of your power to stop.
When we shift the blame to people we want others to think that it was someone elses fault, when we shift the blame to circumstances we want people to think that it was because we did not get enough sleep, or that it was inbred into our genes or because of our culture that we are living in.
Another way that we have become sophisticated in the area of blameshifting is in the area of emotions or feelings. We often hear speakers say that love is a choice and rightly so because love truly is a choice. But have you ever thought of why we as humans would ever want to think that love is a feeling?? Because it makes things easier for us ( as all blameshifting does). When love is dismissed as a feeling suddenly the blame for not loving someone is no longer in existance because most people see emotions and feelings as out of our control.
Whenever someone says that they "don't feel like loving someone" then suddenly they are not blamed for wrong actions toward that "someone" because we have all believed the lie that emotions and feelings are out of our control. You see blameshifting is a great thing to us fallen humans because it makes things seem like they are out of our control, which seems like a good thing. But as with every good thing Satan always has a counterfeit, and the counterfeit does exactly what a counterfeit should do. It acts and looks like the same as the "real deal" but then when you go and try to use it, suddenly it does not work and does not give the same results as the "real deal" does. For every good from God
(good virtues, commands that He gives) there is a counterfeit ( sin) that Satan will try to luer us with much the same way as a fishermen leurs a fish with a fake leur.
When we dismiss love as the counterfeit, just a feeling, then it never works as love should work.
Love in the real sense of the word is a choice, and when we admit that it is a choice suddenly "loving others" becomes a little easier because it is no longer out of our control like the counterfeit of love as a feeling. Suddenly we learn that we can choose to love someone whether they are worthy of it or not ( which really they are according to Romans 13:8 which states that we owe every person on the planet LOVE) or whether we think that they are worthy of it or not.
Yes it becomes harder when we do not love someone because then we see that it is totally our fault because we chose not to love that someone. But as with everything there is a hard and an easy side to love when seen as a choice!
Okay so we have seen that we blameshift in the area of love, but we also do it in the area of Joy or happiness. We have probably all heard speakers say that Joy, or happiness is a choice, and RIGHTLY so because that is exactly what joy and happiness is. It is choice, you can choose to be happy.
But again have we ever thought through why we as humans would want happiness to be a feeling??
And again we have the same answer because it makes things seem easier. If you say that you do not "feel happy" then suddenly we do not blame you at all because as I stated before we have come to see emotions as out of our control ( which sometimes they may just be).
So we don't blame you.
But that is only because we have accepted Satan's luer or counterfeit as it were. We have come to see happiness as an emotion and therefore out of anyone's control.
But when we ackowledge and see joy (happiness) as what it truly is, a choice suddenly things become easier and we find that we can have happiness no matter what is going on around us, and no matter what we are going through!
Suddenly things get brighter, and start to look up when we neglect Satan's counterfeit and embrace God's "real deal."
That must be why James said in James 1, that we can consider it a joy when we face trials, because James saw happiness not as a feeling, not as dependent upon how we feel or how our circumstances or people make us feel, but rather as a choice.
So here is a question, what do love and joy have in common ( other than the fact that we wrongly call them both a feeling.)?????
The answer is that they are both fruits of the spirit! And they are both to be seen in the life of the Christian because Christ said that everyone will know we are Christians by the fruits that we display. But how could we as Christians display love and joy ( fruits of the spirit) if they are out of our control to display? How could we display something that we have no control over?? You see things get harder and more complicated when we accept Satan's counterfeit. Oh sure at first they seem easier in that we don't have to take the blame for not being happy or loving, but then when you really work that out we suddenly realize that the displaying the fruit of the spirit is no longer in our control. This is why we must never dismiss Joy and Love as just mere feelings. We must call them what God calls them: a choice!
Funny how we only do this to two of the fruits of the spirit. You never hear" well I just did not feel like having paitence" or I just "did not feel like pursuing peace with that person"
Gal. 5:16-18
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. "
You see we are always at war with our sinful nature. It is our sinful nature that wants to call Love and happiness a mere feeling. It is our sinful nature that wants to shift the blame of our sin onto people and to shift the blame of our choices on feelings.
But we must be led by the spirit! The sinful nature is contrary to the Spirit, as seen in the stark difference of love as a choice versus a mere feeling!
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Gal. 5:22-23
So we have indeed become more sophisticated in our blameshifting! But let's not continue in this! Lets call sin and emotions what God calls them ( sin= wrong and emotions=choice)
Let's put on the fruit of the spirit and choose to have paitence love happiness, kindness etc.
Let us accect God's REAL DEAL versus Satan's counterfeit!
Dear Bethany, I hold your life in My Hands-Love God
You might be thinking...okay I knew bethany was strange....but after the title to this note, you might be really confused. Let me explain the title...and perhaps you will still think "how odd" but that is okay!
It seems here lately that the title of this note is what God has been saying to me! God, in my personal time with Him, and also through a conou trip has been reminding me that my life is in His hands, and that He controls when I die. I do not even know if I will be able to live long enough to finish this note, but God does and not only that but He also controls whether I do or not! WOW! What an odd baffling thought!
He has a reason why I am still breathing, and continue to. I don't have to worry about my death or protecting my life because I will only lose my life when God says and I will only die when it is HIS time for me to. Thus I do not need to fear anything that happens to me! And it just seems that lately God has been reminding me of this fact and also of the fact that life is short! And that I need to be doing what I can when I can, while I can!
We are only a moment....a breath from death every second of everyday! There are so many thing that threaten our very lives, every second of our lives. We are so weak and frail and cannot even control nor could possibly know what is going to happen in between right now, and the time when you will read my next sentence! God has been convicting and working in my heart and life about this these past few days in my devotions....in fact it seems to be my current "reoccuring theme" and as with anything, if God keeps telling me the same thing day in and out I think I had better listen the first time anyway but def. all the times after that! So here is what God has taught me over the course of a week!
And the scary thing is He did not just use His word, to reiderate the fact that I cannot control my own life, He also used a canou trip to get my attention in regards to this lesson that He is currently teaching me. Weird thing is I cannot figure out why He is teaching me this ONE lesson...but funny thing is maybe I don't NEED to know....maybe I just need to trust Him and realize that His plans and thoughts are not mine...and that I don't think like He does...nor always see why He does what He does, and that is okay! I just need to take Him at His Word! God says it and whether I accept it or not THAT SETTLES IT!!
I have been studying Psalm 90 and the following are the lessons that I have been taught:
"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. - I learned from this verse that even in this world of unknowns God is to be mmy refuge, the Person I trust in... but why should I trust Him? And in the next verse I found the answer
"Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.- I saw here in verse two that I should and can trust Him because He created this earth and has a plan for it and to put it very simply HE IS GOD...Need I any other explanation? This friends, silenced me.( "Be still and know that I AM GOD!" kind of idea) I should not need any other explanation! The next verse shows just how much He is in control of my life, whether I acknowledge it or not!
So verse two makes verse one absolutely logical! It would only make sense that I the creature, would trust the Creator that made me and knows me better than I know myself! I love how God's Word connects!
"You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men." - Psalm 90:1-3 God reminded me here that He controls when I die. With this truth I was confronted with the sin of worry! I don't need to worry about death, because I will die when it is His time, not any sooner or later, and it will be what is best for me and for His glory! It is not about me...what I can accomplish in my life, but what GOD accomplishes through me and about HIS GLORY! And I only pray that He will do whatever it takes to show His glory through me, even if it means that I be called home. I will only go home, to my true home when He calls me...when He says 'Return to dust, O sons of men." And He not only controls my death but also everyone elses as well!
Note it said "sons of men" this is everyone!
" For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night." Psalm 90:4 Here God showed me/reminded me that He does not think like I do! And I was convicted of how much I think of Him in human terms! In fact anytime I worry I am thinking of God as a mere human....I am telling Him that "He can't handle this problem...or that person" a lack of trust in God demonstrates that I have forgotten that God is God, and that He is ALL POWERFUL and does what He pleases, He is not human, does not think like I do, and thus I should not think of Him that way!
"You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning-
though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered." Psalm 90:5-6
Here I was reminded that my life is short! It feels like just yesterday I was a freshmaun at college...telling myself that college would take FOREVER! And already I am in my third year ( hard to believe..what a surprise I survived! hee hee) TIME FLYS! It seems to go slow, but then you blink and already the years have flown...the children have grown, and you are five years older!
I remember times when I would get stuck in the trench of thinking, (though not aloud) that I am immortal. Sometimes I get caught up in living everyday like my life will never end. Then God does something, or says something to me through His Word and reminds me of how frail I am. The first lesson I ever had in this happened when I was only eight. My mom said that we needed to go see dad at his office, so we, Krista and I and my brother Joseph hopped into the car and drove to my dads office at Fellowship Baptist Church (Des Moines) where he was the associate pastor. I remember shuffling in there, excited to hear what possible news mom would have for us that would cause us to just get up and go to church. When we got there she informed us that she was pregnant. We were all very excited! I even remember jumping up and down with Joseph and Krista. This jubilation turned very quickly to mourning when my little brother Joshua was called home to be with Jesus before he could even meet any of us.
I still think about him, what he would have looked like...what it would have beem like to have four brothers...but the lesson I learned ( and the reason I am telling you about Josh is this: I learned at eight the frailty of life. Josh's death came as a shock to everyone. He had gotten the cord wrapped around his kneck and had suffocated...my mom delivered him stillborn. I learned that NO ONE ( not even a baby who has not even taken a breath yet) is garunteed tommorow) But obviously it did not stick!
For a few years later, when I was 14 or 15, a young boy that my mother used to babysit was killed at the young age of ten in a car accident. Eric was hit by a speeding car when he was crossing the street to go to church for Awana on a cold novemeber evening. His death too came as a shock. It was devastating for me and I did not know him well...I think the reason for this is that he was just a boy...just a kid and he died...just like that!
Yet again a few years later after I repented of my sin of an eating disorder and got back on track with God, He showed me just how close I came to death during my sin. (If you want to know the details on this story you can look up my note on here entitled "My secret: or so i thought?" it has the whole story of my sin and confession and turn around and also explains just how close to death I was ) no I was not hospitalized or anything..but I will say that I was playin with death itself...and if God had not gotten a hold of me, death would have won! So perhaps you are thinking okay you learned your lesson after that....NOPE!
Yet again a few years later I had to be reminded yet again of the frailty of life this time through my sixteen year old cousin's heart attack. She was healthy and strong, playing in a soccer game one minute, the next minute she was lying on the soccer feild...her heart had stopped. No one had any control or power....we were all powerless to help her, but it was not her time to go for God had other plans! He was in control and had a reason for that...one of which I think was to remind me that life is short and we are not garunteed tommorrow!
So you would think that all these would be enough...that I would have this lesson on the frailty of life and God's control over my life down flat! WRONG!! He still is reminding me of this! But esp. as I have been stating over the past week through Psalm 90...which reminds me...after going through some stories of my life...I think it is time to come back to psalm 90...
And perhaps now I should explain myself a bit. When I do my devotions I usually only end up reading one or two verses at a time, because I am trying to write down and record every single thing about God in each verse of the psalms that I read ( it has become quite a list! The psalms has ALOT to say about Him!) So as I read this psalm I learned one day about the frailty of life, then the next I learned something else, but then the next day after that the Psalmist goes back to that thought ( the frailty of man) thus it has become a reoccuring theme with me! And again I state that God must have a reason for this!
Psalm 90:10 "The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away."- Again after only a few days God reminded me that life is short. Thus in the application part of my notebook I wrote : I need to be redeeming the time..literllly buying it back...for it is SO short! And can so easlily be wasted...like water spilt on the ground...it cannot be gathered back up...thus all I do is use the rest that is there the best I can! I need to be using the time God gives me wisely...for I am not garunteed tommorrow..and even if I were life is So short and it will end and then what will I have to show for God gave me? How will I have used God's gift of life? I was reminded of the song "Only one life to offer."
Only what is done for Him will last!
And here in my most recent devo God showed me the only right reaction to these truths of the frailty of my life and His control over it and death:
Psalm 90:12
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." He showed me that the application that I had been writing all along ("Redeeming the time") was the right application! I need to ask that He teach me to number my days...you see that is why I have to keep being reminded ( and always will) that my life is short. I need too be reminded because I forget! It is not something that comes naturally for me..I do not naturally think to myself every morning "this could be my last day....I could die today...i need to use my time wisely" nope I need to ask God to help me to think this way and not only to think this way but to live this way and to allow this truth to affect ALL I say and do!
Imagine how better my relationships with people would be if I lived these truths out...I mean after all it could be my last time with them...these could be my last words...last discipling moment...will I use it to encourage...or put down...will I take it or just let it go?
Imagine how different my ministries would be! This could be my last time singing in church...playing....teaching...calling on people.
Imagine how it would affect my evangelism!
No wonder God calls this WISE thinking! For it would help EVERY situation if I would just number my days and redeem the time!!
And it not only states numbering your days ( or living in light of the fact that life is short) is wise here but it also states it again in Eph. 5:16-17 (redeeming the time passage)
"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Did you catch it too? It is wise to redeem the time, to use and see our time for what it really is a stewardship and as with any stewardship, we are only given so much of it and for such a time...but the time will come when it will be taken back by its rightful owner ( in our case God) and will He be pleased with how I have used HIS time? It is not mine. Funny how when we borrow a book, or a movie, or anything from someone we always take better care of it than we do of our own book or movie, or you fill in the blank...should it not be the SAME with GOD?
Okay now that I have taken you through how God taught me this lesson through His marvelous word, let me share how He taught me this through an event in my life...and I really hate to do this..but if you want to know about this you are going to have to read the second note I will post on here about it to get "the rest of the story" until then may you just reflect on the truths from God's Word!...plus this note has gotten longer than expected...so I think it will be safer to just write a second note..so be looking for it :)
"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Eph. 5:16-17
REDEEM THE TIME FOR WE ARE NOT PROMISED TOMMORROW:
"You sweep men away in the sleep of death;they are like the new grass of the morning-
though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered." Psalm 90: 5-6
No One Answers to ME???
A while ago (okay a long time ago) I wrote a note on here entitled “Mercy a privilege.”
This note (the one you are currently reading) is going to be a continuum or a continuation of that note(old note :mercy a privilege).
Funny because just when I think “AH, Father I have mastered this subject! I have learned and now know all there is to know about this ____ (and you fill in the blank).
This is especially a temptation for me. Though I would never say aloud, I do sometimes get into the mindset, the rut, of thinking that “I have arrived” I know all there is to know. But God is always faithful to bring me down from that “cloud” or that high horse as it were. To expose the pride in that, and to show me that a hard fall awaits me if I do not repent of that and humble myself realizing that I have not nor will not “arrive” spiritually while on this earth!
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
You see if I have the mindset that “I have learned all there is to learn” I will not be looking for areas of struggle, I will not be looking for the deeper truths that God has to teach me. I will be caught up in my pride and arrogance!
And God has again, gotten a hold of me in this area!
When I wrote that note “mercy is a privilege” I was totally floored by that concept! By the fact that because God is my avenger I do not have to worry about and waste my life and time with “getting people back”, but rather I instead I can leave it to the Righteous and truthful God to do. He frees me so that I am able to show mercy to others!
Just think God could have made it so that we had to “pay people back” but He does not! He frees us to be able to show
Love and mercy to the ones who wrong and hurt us!
Let’s face it we live in a sin cursed earth….Interuption from normal train of thought for a random annoying sidenote from Bethy: The earth though sin cursed is still beautiful…oh the irony of that! I can only imagine what it will one day be like when it is not under sins curse, I mean if it is this good now… God must be like “And you think this is good my prodigal? You just wait…it gets WAY better!”…sorry for the sidenote anywho where was I???
AH yes sin cursed earth!!
WE live in a sin cursed earth with totally depraved sinful beings, and yet somehow we think that we can manage to go through life totally unscathed…unhurt…unviolated…unused….etc. by the people here.
In fact I am often shocked when others sin against me! Oh the irony of that!!
Let’s face it we have been, are and will be sinned against as long as we are here. But there is good news! We don’t have to respond to those people with the same kind of behavior!
If we know Christ as our savior we have been “set free” from sin, we no longer have to live in sin!
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” Romans 6:6
“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:18
And God has said that He is our avenger, He will avenge us!
Romans 12:19
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
So you might be thinking, okay I can see now, mercy is a privilege! And that is AWESOME!! But you might be tempted to think…well okay Bethany, I don’t really struggle with vengeance anymore! I used to when I was a child…you know hitting a sibling after they took my toy, or stealing from a neighbor after they stole from me etc. But now that I am grown I don’t do that! Only murderers do that!
When we are little our sin begins to appear very early on, in throwing temper tantrums as babies, to biting and hitting as toddlers and tots, to stealing and bullying as middle schoolers
As we grow older we generally grow out of certain sins (hitting, biting, Note: I said generally…not everyone does..not naming any names! Jj jk lol!). But does this mean that our sin is gone?
NO it just means that we have become more sophisticated and it is a lot harder now because it is more easily hidden and a whole lot easier to blame shift, and to call good evil and evil good!
How so praytell? Okay when someone wronged you as a child you probably hit or bit them right? (when you were really young…one and two. I would know cuz I experience this at work, the irony though is parents like to blame shift this claiming that “my child is just teething…just needs to chew!” ha-ha! Are you joking! NO, your child is a totally depraved human and it is rearing its ugly head in the form of biting another child out of a selfish love of self! Oops another annoying side note…man these keep popping up! My apologies!)
Anyways so you hit and bit as a child to get back! Now I would like to say that today I no longer hit…bite but I am just as bad as I was then because now I gossip and think bad thoughts. What am I doing when I gossip? What do I want to accomplish?
I want to “feel better about myself” I want to put that person(s) down; I want others to feel bad for me and to see just how bad that other person is! This is a selfish love of self rearing its ugly head again, this time in a different way!
WOW!
So you might be thinking, okay mercy is a privilege, and that is a flooring thought! And you might agree with me that gossip is a form of vengeance seeking. But now you might be like…okay this is pretty much what you said in your first note of mercy being a privilege. And that is peachy keen because now I have lead you to the clincher of this note!
I had thought that I had learned all there was to learn on the subject, then the other day in chapel God was like “NOPE! My silly wandering prodigal, here is something new!”
God is SO deep and His Word So rich it can never be fully learned! Learning is a lifelong process!
Here is what He has been teaching me lately:
Mercy is a privilege and this in and of itself should be reason enough to show mercy to others at all times in front and behind them. This should be reason enough to choose to trust others. You see if you are being merciful you will do and give to others the things that you do not think that they deserve. Too often I think that mercy is just giving people gifts, going out and buying things for them. But mercy in its basic truth is “giving others what they do not deserve” and it encompasses SO much more than just the application of “giving gifts to others.”
Let’s face it there are times when we don’t think that people deserve our trust, our forgiveness, our love, our friendship, our time, our money, our devotion, our encouragement, even our service!
And the list could go on!
You see we should be counting it a PRIVILEGE to do these things for people, and not just the lovely people, who you know will do the same in return to you, this is to be done for everyone, to be counted a privilege to do for everyone, esp. those who have wronged you, who you think don’t deserve these things that God calls us to (list above).
Another reason to do these things (if it being a privilege is not enough) is because people do not answer to you! They don’t answer to me! Imagine what a different world this would be if we all lived in light of this truth!
If we allowed this to affect every interaction, every word, every deed!
Who do all people answer to?
Psalm 96:10
“Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
Psalm 96:13 “For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.”
All people will answer to God, and He judges so much better than us!
“he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.” Psalm 96:13
He knows us better than we know ourselves!
“But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 samuel 16:7
We cannot even see our own heart, fully know it, let alone someone elses, so who are we to judge?
Truth be told, we are not the judge, so why not leave it to the one who not only SEES the hearts but also FASHIONS them!
“ He fashions their hearts individually;He considers all their works” psalm 33:15
So He knows how best to judge! So why not leave it to Him?
My dad once told me that : “Bitterness always hurts you more than it hurts your enemy” and how true!
It steals life away from you! It wastes it! It stops you from being used of God to serve, love, give to, encourage those around you because you are too caught up in “paying them back”, even if it is just in your thought life, it still will eventually stop you from being used of God because your thoughts directly affect your actions (verse Christ…heart)
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” Matthew 13:19
What is IN will eventually come OUT! It all starts somewhere, and that somewhere is our hearts!
We must be faithful to guard this part of our lives especially in the area of bitterness! We cannot let it take root, for then we are assuming the position of God! We are judging and that is not our place!
All of you reading this have probably been hurt by others in ways that I will never know, or even imagine. You have been devastated and ridiculed and hurt (emotionally/physically) and just pushed to your limit, all because someone sinned against you. And I realize that what I am saying may be very very difficult for you to even grasp or wrap your mind around, because of the immense pain that has been caused to come upon you by the sin of another against you.
But there is hope! Don’t run yourself short on the hope that you have in Christ! He has given us everything we need to lead godly lives that please Him, this includes the strength and grace that it will take to not allow bitterness to take root! To not take vengeance in your heart, or by gossiping about that person!
Take advantage of the privilege you have to show mercy! Leave the judging to God! And remember NOT EVERYONE ANSWERS TO YOU ( obviously if you are in a position of leadership then yes some may answer to you) but that EVERYONE ANSWERS TO GOD! Imagine how different I, you, the world would be if we would remember and most importantly live in light of this truth!
“He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.” Psalm 96:13
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